From 114 teams to only 6….and the 6 teams that remain are indeed the Super Six! When the first of three games this weekend kick off this Friday night on the island in Wheeling, high school football fans will be treated to what should be the best football state championship in quite a while!
On Friday night, the state will crown a new Class AA state champion as last year’s winner, Fairmont Senior, lost last Friday night to the same team they beat in the finals last year! The Polar Bears had made it through their first 12 games of the 2019 season with barely a hiccup, but last Friday night the Bluefield Beavers came to East West Stadium with a rebuilt offense that proved a little too much for the reigning state champions and the Beavers outlasted the Polar Bears by a final of 40-24! Bluefield’s attack in the semi-final game featured almost as much passing as it did running and the young men from Mercer County once again punched their Super Six ticket! For the 3rd straight year, Bluefield will be in the Class AA title game and this Friday night they will be going for their 12th state football title. Since 1909, Bluefield has a playoff record of 62 wins and only 18 losses and most of their opponents this season will agree this 2019 edition of the Beavers features a lot of offensive weapons. Their opponent, Bridgeport, is also no stranger to the turf at Wheeling Island, as the Indians have won 9 state football championships and their playoff record is just as impressive as Bluefields as Bridgeport has won 60 playoff games and lost only 30. Last Saturday afternoon, the Indians did something no other team had been able to do this season and that was find a way to stop Oak Glen. The Golden Bears came into Saturday’s semi-final game at Bridgeport with a spotless 12-0, but Bridgeport, behind the running of Carson Winkie, took control early to race past Oak Glen 38-7. Since 1995, Bridgeport and Bluefield have met four times in football and Bluefield holds a 3-1 advantage. The two teams have never met in a championship game. It’s #2 Bridgeport (12-1) taking on #4 Bluefield (12-1) this Friday night in Wheeling…..kick is set for 7:05pm.
Saturday afternoon the Super Six continues with the Class AAA game and to no ones surprise, the Martinsburg Bulldogs return looking for their 4th straight big schools championship. Martinsburg has rolled by every opponent they have faced this season and the number of points they have scored this year is simply mind blowing! Through their first 13 games, the Bulldogs have outscored their opponents 810 to 101….that’s an average per game score of 62 to 8! In their three playoff games, Martinsburg outscored #16 Preston, #9 Spring Mills and #4 Parkersburg South 231 to 20….a per game average of 77-7! Another outstanding stat has Martinsburg entering Saturday’s Class AAA title game riding a 55 game winning streak which is second in the nation to Caledonia High School from Minnesota who has won 68 games in a row! The opponent this Saturday afternoon is also another outstanding team as the 2nd seeded Knights of Cabell Midland will enter Wheeling Island Stadium with a perfect 13-0 record! Much like Martinsburg, Cabell Midland has faced little adversity in the first three playoff rounds, outscoring #15 Riverside, #7 George Washington and #3 Spring Valley 101 to 24, a per game average of 34-8! While Martinsburg is going after state football title #8, Cabell Midland is still looking for their first state championship. The Knights have played in the title game just once and that was in 2012 when they lost 38-14 to, guess who…..Martinsburg. The two teams have met on four different occasions with Martinsburg winning all four times. Again, the Class AAA title game will feature #1 Martinsburg (13-0) vs. #2 Cabell Midland (13-0) and will kick off at 12:05 this Saturday afternoon in Wheeling.
The 2019 Super Six will wrap up this Saturday night as the Class A title game will feature a team very familiar with the turf at Wheeling Island and another that will be appearing in the school’s first ever championship game in Wheeling. Wearing the visitor’s uniform will be the 10th seeded Maroon Knights of Wheeling Central Catholic and after traveling over 1100 miles in their first three playoff games, Head Coach Mike Young is pleased to have his team back home for their final game of 2019. Having played the toughest schedule in the history of the school, Wheeling Central won 6 and lost 4 during the regular season, but that tough schedule provided enough playoff points to get the Maroon Knights in the dance. And, during their first three games, Central Catholic has had to fight three very tough opponents just to get to the title game. In week #1 of the playoffs, Wheeling Central scored a touchdown with seven seconds left in the game to pull out an exciting 13-12 win over #7 Tolsia! Then in the quarter-final round, Wheeling Central exerted their defensive strengths as they shutout #2 seeded Ritchie County 13-0. In the semi-final round, the opponent was #3 Pendleton County and once again the Knight’s defensive talent shown through as they defeated the Wildcats 27-7. Wheeling Central has won 11 state football titles and have a playoff record of 61 wins against only 13 losses! Their opponent this Saturday night are the top seeded Bulldogs of Doddridge County and the young men from West Union are sporting a spotless 13-0 record! Led by a superb running attack that features Hunter America and Reece Burnside plus one of the very best defensive teams in the state, the Bulldogs have outscored their first 13 opponents 523 to 82, or a per game average of 40 to 6! Doddridge County, by far gave up the fewest points in Class A this season! Now as mentioned, Wheeling Central is very familiar with Wheeling Island and quite used to winning state championships! For Doddridge County, they have never won on the Island and according to current records have played only once in a title game and that was in 1978 when they lost to Duval! The two teams have met on one other occasion and that was in the semi-finals last season when Wheeling Central defeated Doddridge County 47-7. It’s the Class A title game and the final game of the 2019 high school football season and it kicks off this Saturday night at 7:05 on the island in Wheeling.
If you can’t make it to the games, I invite you to tune in to many great radio stations around the state as the MetroNews Radio Network will have complete live play by play coverage of each game. You can also watch the games as they will be streamed live on the MetroNews Channel at www.wvmetronews.com!