— By Wes McKinney
GAMES TO WATCH
CLASS AAA
No. 5 Spring Valley (4-0) at No. 16 George Washington (2-2)
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Last Week: Spring Valley started a bit slow out of the gate against South Charleston, but still rolled to a 42-14 win to remain unbeaten.
“We fumbled the ball three times in the first half,” Spring Valley coach Brad Dingess said. “We can’t have that in some of these big games and expect to still win.”
A week after slowing down Cabell Midland, Spring Valley continued to stifle the opponent in 2018 as it limited South Charleston to 70 yards.
“We just have a bunch of guys swarming to the ball,” Dingess said. “This group has a motor like no other group I’ve had.” For GW, it bounced back after a loss to Huntington with a 69-0 win over St. Albans.
Why It’s Important: The Timberwolves are in the middle of three straight games against AAA teams from Kanawha County.
“I feel like we’re taking the tour of Charleston right now,” Dingess joked.
Spring Valley will face Capital in week six of the season.
“George Washington is a tough place to play. We don’t like to look down the road, and we’re not. It seems like every week there’s a head-scratching result in the MSAC.”
Players to watch for Spring Valley: Spring Valley has developed a three-headed monster in its backfield with Owen Chafin, Isaac Howard and Graeson Malashevich. Chafin led five running back with at least 50 rushing yards against South Charleston as he amassed 78 yards.
Players to watch for George Washington: Like Huntington head coach Billy Seals two weeks before him, Dingess not only raved about George Washington quarterback Grant Wells, but also the supporting cast around him.
“They have some kids that can run around and catch the football,” Dingess said. “The running back didn’t play against us last year. He’s back this year and they can run the football too.”
No. 13 Cabell Midland (2-2) at No. 1 Capital (4-0)
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Last Week: Cabell Midland’s offense stalled for a second straight week as the Knights totaled 10 points against Hurricane on the road. In the loss, Ivan Vaughn got back on track with 181 yards rushing, but needed 28 carries. Capital had to fight off a pesky Parkersburg squad and earned a 35-22 win on the road.
Why It’s Important: Cabell Midland has never lost three straight games under coach Luke Salmons dating back to the 2011 season. The Knights have only lost two consecutive games in three other instances in the last seven seasons before their current two-game skid.
Last year’s game was exciting as Capital won on the final play of the game, 55-49 at Knights Stadium.
Players to watch for Cabell Midland: Though the offense has only scored 17 points in the last two games, the Knights have gotten beat on the defensive side of the ball the last two weeks, surrendering 40 and 35 points to Hurricane and Spring Valley.
Players to watch for Capital: Quarterback Kerry Martin racked up nearly 400 yards of total offense last season in the exhilarating win for Capital. Martin has been spectacular on both sides of the ball for the Cougars this season.
Class AA
Pikeville, Ky. (3-1) at No. 5 Point Pleasant (4-0)
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Last week: Point Pleasant kept cruising to start the season with a 53-21 win over Herbert Hoover. After the defense for the Big Blacks posted back-to-back shutouts over South Harrison and Warren Local, Point Pleasant quarterback Cason Payne provided the offense with 230 yards of offense and three touchdowns versus the Huskies.
“Cason is a guy that gets out there and makes adjustments as we need to,” Point Pleasant coach David Darst said. “He does a good job of reading the defense, and he’s such a good runner. I like that dual-threat quarterback that can do both.”
Why it’s important: This will be the toughest test for Point Pleasant since its opening-week win at Mingo Central. The other three teams the Big Blacks have faced besides the Miners have a combined two wins.
“We’re going to have our hands full against Pikeville,” Darst said. “Pikeville can do it all.”
The lone loss for Pikeville came last week against Kentucky powerhouse Belfry.
Players to watch for Pikeville: According to Darst, there’s not many weak spots for Pikeville.
“They can run the ball, throw it,” he said. “They have big, strong linemen on both sides of the ball. And they absolutely fly to the football on defense.”
Players to watch for Point Pleasant: With two shutouts on its resume this season, Point Pleasant’s defense will have its hands full with a Pikeville offense that comes into Mason County averaging 38.2 points per game on the season.
No. 9 Mingo Central (3-1) at No. 6 Poca (4-0)
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Last week: Mingo Central quarterback Daylin Goad needed all six touchdown passes to lead the Miners past Sissonville in a wild shootout in Kanawha County last week. Mingo Central built a 33-12 third-quarter lead before Sissonville took a brief 36-33 edge, but Goad marched Mingo Central down the field late in the game, and the Miners’ defense got a critical red zone stop to pick up a 39-36 win.
Poca is one of the surprising teams in Class AA this season. And the Dots have been impressive in their four wins with only game decided by less than 30 points. Poca picked up a 62-36 win over Logan last week.
Why it’s important: Mingo Central could easily be undefeated or just have one win on the season. Three of the four games for the Miners have been decided by a touchdown or less. Friday night represents the toughest test for Poca to date as the four teams the Dots have faced have a combined four wins.
Players to watch for Mingo Central: Goad has been impressive in replacing former MetroNews Player of the Year Jeremy Dillon. Goad has led two late-game drives—at Wayne and at Sissonville.
Players to watch for Poca: Ethan Payne scored six touchdowns in the win over the Wildcats and has 11 scores this season.
Wayne (1-2) at Nitro (1-3)
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Last week: In a rare Thursday contest, Wayne picked up its first win of the season with a 28-9 win over Winfield.
“I was pleased that we were able to go out and hold Winfield enough and get the ball in the end zone enough to get some confidence back,” Wayne head coach Tom Harmon said in reference to his team having to sit around for two weeks after a tough defeat against Mingo Central.
Nitro is coming off a shutout loss against Chapmanville.
Why it’s important: This is a chance for Wayne to gain some traction as it will face a current one-win Scott team after playing the Wildcats in week five.
“We do have some deficits on our team right now, and we’re spending time in the film room and on the practice field trying to correct them,” Harmon said.
Players to watch for Wayne: After back-to-back solid seasons, Mikey Bartram has been slowed a bit in 2018. However, Isaac Dean is averaging nearly 11 yards a tote this season and has scored two touchdowns on the ground.
“Mikey gets the bulk of the attention from the defense,” Harmon said. “When you play good teams, they are going to try take away some of the good things you do. Teams may take (Mikey) away, but they can’t take away everyone else.”
Players to watch for Nitro: The Wildcats’ offense will look to get on track after being limited to eight points in two of its three losses this season.
Class A
No. 11 Sherman (3-1) at No. 15 Ravenswood (2-1)
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Last week: Sherman eased its ways past Buffalo, 56-6, to continue its surge since its opening week loss at Magnolia. Ravenswood was humbled at home by Williamstown in the MetroNews Class A Game of the Week, 55-19, as the Red Devils fell for the first time in 2018.
Why it’s important: Sherman and head coach Michael Showalter haven’t shied away from tough competition this season. This will be the second time this season the Tide venture to the Mid-Ohio Valley to battle a perennial Class A playoff team—the other game was at Magnolia.
This is part of back-to-back games in which Sherman will face Fayetteville next week.
Players to watch for Sherman: Since its opening week loss, the Sherman offense has been rolling, averaging 52 points per game versus Valley (Fayette), Tug Valley and Buffalo
Players to watch for Ravenswood: The Ravenswood defense will look to get right after giving up 55 points Williamstown. In two prior games this season, the Red Devils had given up just 16 points on the season.
Other Games:
Tolsia (2-2) at No. 11 Tug Valley (2-1)
Chapmanville (2-2) at Scott (1-2)
Logan (1-3) at Winfield (1-3)
Man (1-2) at River View (0-4)
Class A No. 16 Van (2-1) at Hannan (0-4)