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Southwestern high school football report: Week 11

— By Wes McKinney

GAMES TO WATCH

CLASS AAA

No. 6 Huntington (7-2) at No. 2 Spring Valley (9-0)

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday

Last Week: Huntington snapped a brief two-game losing streak with a come-from-behind win over Parkersburg, 27-21, after trailing 21-13 late in the contest. 

“The way the last two weeks went it could have been easy for our kids to hang their heads or pout—they didn’t do that,” Huntington head coach Billy Seals said referring to his team’s late rally. “We found a way to win after getting some defensive stops.” 

Meanwhile, Spring Valley had to erase its first halftime deficit of the season as it trailed 27-14 at Point Pleasant before winning 58-34 over the Big Blacks. 

“When you’re down two scores at halftime on the road to a team that’s undefeated and are able to come back and win, that says a lot about our kids,” Spring Valley head coach Brad Dingess said. “They came out in the third quarter and responded—we never had any panic.”

Why It’s Important: This game can be summed in one sentence from Dingess. 

“It’s been Spring Valley-Huntington, that’s enough to get excited right there.” 

There is a little more to this game than just the pure joy from both sides. Spring Valley can lock up home field advantage throughout the playoffs while Huntington needs a win to grab a first round home postseason game. 

“I’m sure a lot of people throughout the state circled this game. I think maybe in the community or the state it has lost a little bit of luster because we’ve lost a couple of game, but it’s Huntington-Spring Valley,” Seals said in reference about Huntington dropping games to Capital and Cabell Midland earlier this season. 

The last three games between these two rivals have been defensive struggles with the winner not needing more than 17 points to win. Huntington pitched a 14-0 shutout in the regular season last season before Owen Porter and the Spring Valley defense stymied the Highlanders in the Class AAA semifinals, 10-7. 

“The last time we played Huntington was in a semifinal game,” Dingess said. “I’m sure they haven’t forgotten about that. I don’t think we’ve played each other this late in the season. You want to go into the playoffs feeling good about yourself, so that’s a point of emphasis.” 

Unlike some rivalries there’s a whole lot of respect for both programs from the other. 

“Coach Seals is one of the best coaches around,” Dingess said. “He always has his kids ready to play. There’s going to be a bunch of large human beings on the field. It’ll be a fun ball game to be a part of and to watch.” Seals has the same thoughts. “I have a lot of respect for Brad Dingess and Spring Valley,” he said. “I think most of the respect is reciprocated back to us.”

Players to Watch for Huntington: Diallo Mitchell helped lead the comeback for the Highlanders at Parkersburg. The Huntington backfield could get receive a big boost this week as Ty Wilcoxon is expected to be a game-time decision, according to Seals. 

Players to Watch for Spring Valley: Seals is impressed with the talent in Timberwolves’ backfield. 

“Graeson Malashevich, Nate Elis, Owen Chafin, Isaac Howard. All four of those guys can run the ball and run it effectively,” he said.

South Charleston (3-6) at No. 12 Cabell Midland (5-4)

When: Friday, 7:30 p.m. 

Last Week: Cabell Midland is coming off perhaps its most impressive win of the season as it kept The Shield in its possession with a 21-7 win over Huntington two weeks ago. 

“Our defense has played well all year and you can see that they are starting to come together,” Cabell Midland head coach Luke Salmons said. “We were able to get a goal line stand and had a couple of fourth down stops. Our defense has been a big improvement this year.” 

Why It’s Important: While it is a long shot, Cabell Midland could shoot up the rankings enough to host a playoff game if things fall right, but the Knights need to take care of a South Charleston team who is all but eliminated from playoff consideration. 

“South Charleston will come here ready to play us,” Salmons said. “It’s going to be a tough game. Our kids will be ready to go on senior night. We probably won’t be at home in the playoffs, so it could be our seniors last game at home.”

Players to Watch for South Charleston: Quarterback Shyleik Kinney leads the team’s young offense. 

Players to Watch for Cabell Midland: Against Huntington, Cabell Midland got some good production from someone other than standout ball carrier Ivan Vaughn against Huntington. 

“Jayce Gould had a couple of nice runs. Jakob Caudill did a nice a job of blocking and getting the tough yards at the same time,” Salmons said.

CLASS AA 

James Monroe (6-3) at No. 8 Point Pleasant (7-1)

When: Friday, 7:30 p.m. 

Last Week: Point Pleasant was unable to hold onto a 27-14 lead against Spring Valley in a battle of previously undefeated teams as the Big Blacks dropped a 58-34 decision. 

“I like the intensity that we came out with — we came out ready to play,” Point Pleasant head coach David Darst said. “Defensively in the first half, our kids did an outstanding job. We did get worn down a little bit in the second half.”

Why It’s Important: Point Pleasant is looking to secure a home playoff game while James Monroe is simply playing for its playoff life. The Mavericks start the week two spots out of the top 16. 

“We need to be fighting for a home playoff game ourselves on Friday night,” Darst said. “We like to play at Point Pleasant. We are typically pretty motivated when it’s senior night.” 

This will also be a rematch of the Class AA quarterfinals in 2016 and also a great regular season matchup last year at James Monroe. Point Pleasant lost at home in the playoffs two seasons ago to the Mavericks before a late defensive stop led to a 20-14 win in the 2017 regular season. 

Players to Watch for James Monroe: Quarterback Monroe Mohler can do a little bit of everything for James Monroe including keep plays alive with his feet. 

“We remember him from last year,” Darst said. “He’s a good athlete. We’ll have to be aware of their formations and know where they want to attack.”

Players to Watch for Point Pleasant: The Big Blacks’ Cason Payne played just a hand full of snaps in the second half of last week’s loss to Spring Valley. 

No. 10 Wayne (7-2) at No. 5 Poca (9-0)

When: Friday, 7:30 p.m. 

Last Week: Since giving up 28 points in a win over Herbert Hoover, Wayne’s defense has been stifling allowing just 29 points in the last three games. The Pioneers earned a 46-8 victory over Logan last week as it limited the Wildcats to less than 150 yards of offense. 

Why It’s Important: Wayne puts its seven-game winning streak on the line against a Poca team trying to finish off an undefeated regular season — this comes as the Dots are barely removed from six total wins over the last five seasons. The Pioneers will need a win to secure a top-8 seed in the Class AA playoffs. In its last three road games, Wayne is outscoring opponents by an average of 50-16. 

Players to Watch for Wayne: Gunner Harmon went over 1,000 yards passing for the season last week against Logan. Harmon has thrown 11 touchdowns this season to just one interception. The Wayne signal caller has added five rushing scores for the Pioneers.  

Players to Watch for Poca: The Dots rode Owen McClanahan in their 14-9 win over Herbert Hoover last week. It was the closest call for Poca this season in its undefeated quest to this point.

CLASS A

No. 10 Van (8-1) at No. 10 Sherman (8-1)

When: Friday, 7:30 p.m. 

Last Week: Sherman and Van both cruised to wins in week 10 of the season to set up a Boone County showdown in the final week of the regular season. Sherman downed RiverView 40-18 to run its winning streak to eight straight games. Van defeated Valley (Fayette) on the road, 44-13, as it won its fifth straight game. 

Why It’s Important: Rivalry aside, the winner of this game will have the opportunity to host a first round playoff game next week. As of late, the Van offense has been firing on all cylinders as it put up a season-high 53 points against Richwood before last week’s 31-point triumph over RiverView. The Tide have ridden a strong defense all season. Sherman has tallied three shutouts and the 18 points it surrendered last week were the most since the 24 it gave up to Magnolia in a week one loss. 

Players to Watch for Van: David Stewart had three touchdowns on the ground for the Bulldogs in its win over Valley last week. 

Players to Watch for Sherman: While Sherman has been strong on defense, J.T. Hensley and Timmy Harper have done the heavy lifting for the Tide offense. 

Other games: Winfield (4-5) at Mingo Central (7-2); Tug Valley (4-5) at Lincoln County (7-2); Hannan (0-8) at Tolsia (4-5); Chapmanville (5-4) at Man (5-4); Herbert Hoover (1-8) at Logan (3-6);. Nitro (2-7) at Scott (1-8)





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