This past weekend, 56 high school football games were played across the state and, as always, there were a few surprises! Certainly one surprise was all 56 games were played on Friday night….something I can’t remember happening in a very long time! Now, as far as the out come to some of the games, I am never surprised about winners and losers…..it happens! And, all to often, just when we think we absolutely, postively “know” which team is going to win, just the opposite happens! Take for example Riverside going on the road to face Morgantown! The Warriors came into the game with a record of 3 wins and 4 losses and were ranked #19 in the SSAC rankings. Add to that, Riverside was coming off a 35 point loss to Spring Valley and they had to travel the 150 miles from Quincy to Morgantown! Their opponent on the other hand had been playing some real impressive football. The Mohigans were ranked #10 in the state and had won 4 of their last 5 games with the only loss during that span to undefeated Martinsburg. The game Friday night looked like it was going to be another Mohigan victory, but the Warriors refused to quit. After trailing by two scores, Riverside fought back to tie the game and send it into overtime! After Morgantown scored first, Riverside got the ball, scored and instead of kicking the point after, Head Coach Zach Davis decided to go for 2! According to Riverside quarterback Mark Scites, who scored the winning two points, “We knew from the beginning that we were going to go for two and try to get the big win,” Scites said. “We saw the (two-point conversion) play on Monday Night Football from the Chicago Bears.” Final score: Riverside 28, Morgantown 27!
There were a few other “surprises” this past Friday night including St. Albans as the Red Dragons improved to (4-4) with a 16-6 win over #14 South Charleston…..#12 Winfield rolling past #8 Sissonville 46-14…..#5 Midland Trail staying undefeated with an impressive 41 point win over #6 Fayetteville…..#13 Doddridge County going on the road and beating #11 Ravenswood 20-3 and the Purple Riders of Martins Ferry, Oh. (4-3) disposing of Wheeling Central 38-19. With that loss, the Maroon Knights drop below .500 with a (3-4) record.
So, what’s on tap for week #9? Well, I am certain we will see more “surprises” because the slate of games include some great match-ups! In Class AAA, Spring Valley (5-2) will meet up with Capital (5-2) at University of Charleston Stadium…….Hurricane (4-3) will be at Parkersburg (4-3)…..In Class AA, North Marion (5-2) is at Braxton County (5-2)……Keyser (5-2) will take on the (7-1) Indians at Bridgeport….Oak Hill (5-2) will entertain (8-0) Bluefield….Wayne (6-1) has an important road game at (5-2) Sissonville….Midland Trail will try and keep their undefeated season going when they travel to Summersville to take on (5-2) Nicholas County……Valley (Wetzel) (5-2) will travel to Doddridge County (6-2)…..and maybe the best game this week regardless of class will find South Harrison (7-0) at St. Marys (6-0)! Indeed, a lot of great games this week!
So, as always, I urge you to get out and support your local high school this weekend and enjoy a great high school football game! After the games, we will have all the scores and interviews on GAMENIGHT so tune in to your local radio station or check out the program, which includes video of the show, at wvmetronews.com!