Eastern Panhandle: Top 5 games highlight Week 10

By Sean McNamara – Times West Virginian for WVMetroNews.com

The Eastern Panhandle will feature two of the top games in the state in Week 10 as the Martinsburg Bulldogs take on the Musselman Applemen in a matchup of the No. 2 and No. 4 teams in Class AAA, and Class A No. 1 South Harrison takes on No. 2 East Hardy.

Following last week’s games, the Eastern Panhandle remains thick in the playoff picture, with six teams currently in the top 16 in their respective classes. In addition to Martinsburg and Musselman, No. 11 Hedgesville and No. 15 Spring Mills would make the playoffs if they started today, as would Class AA No. 14 Keyser and East Hardy.

 

Martinsburg (9-0) at Musselman (7-1), Friday

One of the premier Class AAA matchups in West Virginia will take place Friday evening in Inwood when the 7-1 Musselman Applemen take on the undefeated Martinsburg Bulldogs.

Martinsburg comes into the game following a 73-6 win over Jefferson a week ago, and currently ranks second in the WVSSAC Class AAA playoff rankings.

In last week’s win, Dwayne Grantham and Shy Crawford each scored two touchdowns, Grant Hartman and Mikey Jackson each scored one, Jarod Bowie and Trey Sine each caught a touchdown pass and Matt VanDuzer returned an interception for a score and caught another one.

Behind this wealth of offensive firepower, Martinsburg has been a machine this season, outscoring opponents 508-77 and outgaining them 3,956 yards to 1,530.

“We like to start off strong and we like to start off fast,” Grantham said. “We never like to play down to our competition, we always like to play above them and get on those teams early, get them down early. We’ve been doing that recently and playing well.”

Quarterback Tyson Bagent is putting together a potential Kennedy Award-worthy season with 116 completions on 170 passing attempts (68.24 percent) for 1,896 yards, 24 touchdowns and four interceptions.

Grantham and Jackson have 669 and 614 rushing yards, respectively, with 13 touchdowns apiece.

“We really don’t talk about our stats. I didn’t even know I had 669 yards and 13 touchdowns,” Grantham said. “But I count the stickers on my helmet, that tells me how many touchdowns I have. We’ve just been trying to put points on the board. Offensively and defensively, we’ve been getting the job done, especially on the line.”

Looking to slow down this Bulldog offense will be the Musselman Applemen, who are allowing opponents to score 18.25 points per game this season.

Musselman is coming off a 50-25 win over Washington. In the win, which improved Musselman to 7-1, Chris Fox shined for the Applemen, completing 10-of-15 passes for 207 yards and five scores.

“Musselman is a great team and they’ve always been a rivalry for us,” Grantham said. “You can’t let them get a lead on you. It’ll be a battle, I think. We’ve had a lot of energy in practice and I think we’ve prepared well mentally and physically. We will be prepared, but I think Musselman will be prepared as well.”

Through eight games, Fox has 80 completions on 121 attempts for 1,215 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Jacob Northcraft continued his strong senior season, rushing to 154 yards and two scores while Blake Hartman ran for 177 yards and a score a week ago. That performance brought Northcraft’s season total to 1,232 yards and 17 total touchdowns.

“Jacob is a special kid,” said Musselman coach Brian Thomas. “He isn’t the flashiest player in the world, but he’s one of those kids who is just tough. He’s going to run with his head down and get you four or five times every time he touches the ball.”

Martinsburg won last year’s matchup, 54-14, and looks to earn its 24th consecutive victory.

“Our kids are excited about the opportunity,” Thomas said. “We hope we’re going to win and everyone who goes out, plans to win.

“But if it doesn’t go our way, it’s not the end of the world,” he continued. “We have bigger goals and things to look forward to. We’re excited, though, about getting Martinsburg at our place and having the opportunity to play good football, hopefully.”

Martinsburg visits Musselman and East Hardy hosts South Harrison in a couple of pivotal Week 10 games.

 

South Harrison (8-0) at East Hardy (8-0), Friday

It will be No. 1 vs. No. 2 in Class A this week as the South Harrison Hawks travel across the Mountain State to Baker to take on the East Hardy Cougars.

Both teams are undefeated and have combined to outscore opponents 682-150 this season.

Not only will this matchup pit two of the top teams in the state against each other, but will feature some of the top skill-position players in West Virginia with East Hardy’s Clay Skovron and Brett Tharp being joined on the field by South Harrison speedster Freddy Canary.

“It’s going to be a great night – the stands are going to packed and it’s going to be loud,” Tharp said. “We’ve had two good weeks of practice and (head coach Chad Williams) has faith that it’s going to be a good game – it’s going to come down to the end.”

This will be the second week in a row that South Harrison will take on the one of the top ranked teams in Class A after the Hawks defeated St. Marys last week, 43-15.

In the win over St. Marys, Freddy Canary – the all-time touchdown leader in Harrison County history – rushed for 318 yards and scored four touchdowns. That brought him over 1,300 yards on the season.

“He gets nothing without the seven guys up front and Cam Barnette,” South Harrison coach Brad Jett said. “And he knows that.”

Landon McFadden and Barnette each scored touchdowns for the Hawks, as well, and each have eclipsed 500 yards on the ground this season.

On both sides of the ball, Jett gave credit to his big guys up front for making his offense go.

“We live and die by our (front) seven offensively and defensively and you throw Cam Barnette in there in front, and Nathan Stickle did a heck of a job and Jacob Wagner, also,” Jett said. “But our defense and our defensive coordinator Mark Clayton, he dials them up, man.”

Unlike South Harrison, the Cougars come into this game with fresh legs following a bye in Week 9.

The winner of this game will be in the driver’s seat heading into the Class A playoffs, likely gaining homefield advantage throughout if they can win their final game of the season.

East Hardy closes out the regular season with Petersburg while South Harrison will take on county rival Liberty.

“This game is No. 1 against No. 2 and we’ve been waiting for this game since the beginning of the year,” Tharp said. “We’re hoping (to get back to Wheeling Island). We made our goals at the beginning of the year to go undefeated again, get back to the Island and get over that (state championship) hump.”

 

Spring Mills (4-4) at North Hagerstown, Maryland, Friday

It has been an up and down season for Spring Mills this season as the Cardinals sit a 4-4 following a 33-28 loss to Mountain Ridge, Maryland, last week.

Despite the loss, Springs Mills still sits well within the playoff picture at No. 15. The Cardinals are one of five teams in Class AAA that would make the postseason with four or more losses if the playoffs started today.

This week’s opponent is North Hagerstown, Maryland, which is coming off a 20-14 victory last week over Frederick, Maryland.

North Hagerstown currently sits at 4-4 on the season.

 

Frankfort (1-7) at Keyser (5-3), Friday

The Keyser Golden Tornado look to bounce back this week and get back in the win column following a 30-0 loss on the road at Bridgeport. The Golden Tornado will host Frankfort this week in another edition of the annual Mineral Bowl.

In the loss to the one-loss Indians, Brady Ours rushed for 71 yards while Drae Allen rushed for 50 yards.

The three teams that Keyser has lost to this season have combined for one total loss this season.

The loss dropped Keyser to No. 14 in the WVSSAC Class AA playoff ratings, but the Golden Torando’s strength of schedule makes them the highest ranked five-win team in Class AA, putting them ahead of seven other five-win teams and two six-win teams.

 

Petersburg (4-4) at Tucker County (3-5), Friday

At 4-4 and coming off a 54-16 win over Moorefield, the Petersburg Vikings go on the road this week to take on a 3-5 Tucker County team that topped Pendleton County, 14-8, in Week 9.

The Vikings opened the season 2-0, but dropped four in a row before winning their last two games to pull back to .500.

Quarterback Jacob Hartman is leading the way both through the air and on the ground for the Vikings with 105 completions on 182 passing attempts for 1,521 yards, 17 touchdowns and four interceptions to go along with 709 rushing yards on 147 carries with 11 touchdowns.

Trad Harman has been his favorite target with 27 catches for 382 yards and three touchdowns.

Doug Morral has a team-high 81 solo tackles and is tied with McKeyin Kile for the team lead with eight tackles for loss.

At No. 27, the Vikings are on the outside looking in as it relates to the playoff picture, but a chance to end the season over .500 and with six wins remains a possibility.

 

Other games:

Washington (1-7) at Hampshire (2-6), Friday

Ritchie County(2-7) at Berkeley Springs (4-4), Friday

Jefferson (0-8) at South Hagerstown, Maryland, Friday

Pendleton County (1-7) at Moorefield (0-8), Friday





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