6:00: Morning News

North Central: Lincoln at Bridgeport broadcast on MetroNews

Class A No. 2 South Harrison (8-1) at Class AA No. 6 Liberty (8-1)

South Harrison will attempt to bounce back from its first loss of the season at the hands of No. 1 East Hardy. South Harrison will clinch the No. 2 seed with a win over Liberty. The Hawks could still finish No. 1 with a win and an East Hardy loss to Petersburg. A loss would likely knock South Harrison out of the top four.

The Hawks are hoping to have top offensive threat Freddy Canary back healthy for this one.  Canary left last week’s game with a hand injury late in the first half.

The Hawks also played most of last week’s game without fullback/linebacker Cam Barnette. Barnette left the game after injuring his knee on the second offensive series – he tore his ACL and meniscus, ending his senior season.

South Harrison still managed to run for over 300 yards against East Hardy as quarterback Landon McFadden led the way with 126 yards.

Liberty can clinch a first round home playoff game with a win in this one. Liberty will try and close the regular season with two straight wins after having its perfect season ruined in a loss to RCB back on Oct. 20. Liberty will honor its seniors prior to the start of the game.

 

Class AA No. 14 Lincoln (6-3) at No. 4 Bridgeport (8-1)

Lincoln can clinch a playoff spot with an upset win on the road. The Cougars could still get in with a loss but would likely need some help.

Bridgeport could move past Fairmont Senior into the No. 3 spot with a win over Lincoln.

MetroNews will have a full HD broadcast of this game Friday night at the MetroNews Channel of WVMetroNews.com. The game will also air locally on WVFX TV as well.

 

Class AA No. 3 Fairmont Senior (8-1) at East Fairmont (1-8)

Fairmont Senior would clinch a spot in the top four in Class AA with a win over rival East Fairmont. The Polar Bears have won nine in a row in the series, one victory shy of the longest winning streak in the series. The Polar Bears also won 10 in a row back in the 50s & 60s.

Fairmont Senior is coming off a bye week as the Polar Bears are healthy and looking to take a big play off offense into the playoffs. First year starting quarterback Connor Neal has thrown for 1,652 yards and 21 touchdowns.

Five Polar Bears pass catchers have 10 or more receptions led by Bryson Gilbert and Antonio Parsons. Parsons leads the team with  27 grabs for 542 yards and eight scores.

 

Class AA No. 12 Robert C. Byrd (6-3) at No. 13 Philip Barbour (7-2)

Suddenly-hot RCB has won four in a row as it has averaged 48 points per game during that span. The Eagles could finish as high as the No. 8 seed with a win over the Colts.

RCB is coming off 68-46 win over North Marion in a game the Eagles ran for over 400 yards. They have over 900 yards rushing in the last two games.

“The five guys up front have done a phenomenal job,” said RCB coach Josh Gorrell during Wednesday night’s MetroNews High School Sportsline. “We’ve got two great backs as well. We’re running one back power, stretch and the inside zone. The blocks are there and the backs have made the right reads. We’ve been blessed with success with what we are doing right now.

“The growth of this team is really remarkable,” Gorrell continued. “We are still going to start six freshman this week. That’s the reason for the inconsistency early in the season. But they’ve really grown. They’ve all come to work. We watch film and we feel prepared for each and every game. They really have done the right things each week.”

Philip Barbour would like to cap a remarkable turnaround season with a playoff birth. The Colts would clinch a spot with a win Friday. This after a 1-30 stretch coming into this season.

 

Class A No. 9 Madonna (7-2) at Clay-Battelle (6-3)

The Cee-Bees suffered a damaging 34-20 loss at home at the hands of Notre Dame last week. Clay-Battelle could not hold on to an early 12-0 lead. Two crucial Cee-Bees turnovers led directly to Notre Dame points in the loss. The Cee-Bees now need an upset win over Madonna plus a lot of help to make the playoffs.

 

Preston (2-7) at Class AAA No. 5 Mussleman (7-2)

Preston will attempt to play spoiler for the second straight week after the Knights earned their second win of the season last week with a 24-3 win at Buckhannon-Upshur last week. Junior Jacob Brady had one of the biggest plays of the game last week with a 31-yard punt return to set up the first touchdown of the game for Preston.

Caleb Gribble would score from two yards out and the Knights were never headed. Dakota Holt and Colton Rosenberger continue to split time at quarterback for Preston. The Preston defense played its best game of the season last week as it held Buckhannon to 151 yards of total offense while forcing four turnovers.

 

Buckhannon Upshur (3-6) at Elkins (4-5)

Buckhannon was eliminated from playoff consideration following a home loss to Preston last week. It was the third consecutive loss for the Buccaneers.

Elkins snapped a three game losing streak with a 37-14 win over Grafton last week.

Buckhannon has won four in a row in this rivalry series.  Elkins had a three game winning streak in the series prior to that, dating back to 2010.

 

Other games:

Braxton County at Sissonville

Grafton at North Marion

Doddridge County at Parkersburg Catholic

Notre Dame at Tucker County





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