MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Morgantown and Parkersburg’s football season opener from Pony Lewis Field in Morgantown has been selected as the year’s 2018 WVSSAC Kickoff Game.
The contest was moved from Friday, Aug. 24 to Thursday, Aug. 23 to accommodate the broadcast.
“This is a great situation where we can put two of the most historic football programs and academic institutions in the state into a regional context to where they can get the publicity and attention that they deserve,” said Morgantown athletics director John Bowers. “It will be a great event for everyone involved. It’s fantastic.”
MetroNews will produce the game and provide a full-HD video broadcast at the MetroNews Channel of WVMetroNews.com. AT&T SportsNet out of Pittsburgh will also carry the MetroNews broadcast live as well with the Pirates having an off day scheduled for August 23rd.
“AT&T SportsNet reaches three million-plus homes, so we’re excited to get that extra exposure for our football team,” said Parkersburg athletic director Chris Way. “We had a good season last year and we’re really looking to build upon that and have another successful year.”
Morgantown is coming off of a 4-7 campaign against a grueling schedule. The Mohigans fell in the opening round of the Class AAA playoffs to eventual champion Martinsburg.
This is the third year for the SSAC Kickoff Game, which featured South Charleston vs. George Washington in 2016 and paired Fairmont Senior against Robert C. Byrd in 2017.
“We love our setting here at Pony Lewis Field, it’s a great setting for high school football,” Bowers said. “We’ll be one of the only shows in town. For so many reasons, this Kickoff Game is a very, very good thing for Morgantown High School.”
Parkersburg went 7-4 in the first season under coach Mike Byus, entering the postseason as the No. 7 seed before a first-round loss to John Marshall.
“We had missed the playoffs for a couple of years in a row,” Way said. “But we had a lot of excitement around the community, the football program and the school itself last year. It really gave our team and school momentum for the whole offseason. We have a lot of energy and momentum coming into this game and into the season overall.”
The SSAC Kickoff Game is set for 7 p.m. kickoff.