Last Friday night proved to be a challenging one for most teams across the state! And, I say most teams, because even with all of the rain and all of the delays, several teams had their games go off without a hitch!
However,a lot of those that were affected by the rain saw some messy game conditions and some very late nights! Because of lightning in several parts of the state, a lot of games had very late kick-off times and the latest of those occurred in Huntington where the Highlanders game with George Washington did not end until well after midnight! There was one game that was scheduled to be played last Friday night that was cancelled and it had nothing to do with the weather. The Grafton Bearcats traveled to Petersburg to battled the Vikings, but because of a scheduling snafu with the game officials, the game had to be cancelled. The official word of the cancellation came Monday morning when it was obvious the two teams could not agree on a make up date or time. With the game being ruled a “No Contest”, neither team gets credit for a win, loss or tie!
So, what does week #4 look like? Well, hopefully we will have better weather because there are several games that could be very important as we get set to head into the halfway mark of the season! Halfway already? Time really does fly when it comes to the high school football season! In week #4 this week, look for these key games…In Class AAA, undefeated Wheeling Park (2-0) is coming off a bye week and they will travel to Morgantown to battle the (2-1) University Hawks who are starting to play some solid football after losing to John Marshall in week #1. The past two Friday nights have seen the Hawks outscore their opponents by a combined score of 64-27. Also in the big school’s division, Beckley will try and get back on the winning track after losing their first game of the season last Friday night to Parkersburg, but it won’t be easy for the Flying Eagles as they have to travel to Cabell County to battle the undefeated Huntington Highlanders (3-0). The Class AAA game with the most important implications as far as wins and losses will find Cabell Midland (2-1) making the trip to Hurricane to take on the (1-2) Redskins. With a continuing tough MSAC schedule remaining, Hurricane does not want to pick up loss #3 in the 4th week of the season.
In Class AA, likely the best game of the week will happen on Thursday night as the undefeated Fairmont Senior Polar Bears will host the undefeated Bridgeport Indians. Last year, this game went down to the wire before the Polar Bears proved victorious 14-10! Look for another exciting, close game this Thursday night! Also in Class AA, the Miners of Mingo Central (2-1) will travel to Sissonville to battle the undefeated Indians and the Poca Dots (3-0) will look for win #4 as they travel to the Island to take on the (1-2) Logan Wildcats!
In Class A, Richwood (2-1) will try and rebound from last week’s loss to undefeated Fayetteville as they travel to Midland Trail to battle the undefeated Patriots! Another great game in Class A will take place in Jackson County as the undefeated Red Devils of Ravenswood will welcome the (2-1) Yellow Jackets of Williamstown!
Check the schedule of your local team and try and make it out to their game this weekend! There is nothing that shines brighter than those “Friday Night Lights”! And, after the game, be sure and join Dave Jecklin and me for week #4 of MetroNews GAMENIGHT! We’ll have all the scores, highlights and interviews and the show can be heard on many great radio stations around the state, plus you can check out the live video and audio of the show at www.wvmetronews.com!