No. 3 Morgantown (11-1) at No. 2 Martinsburg (12-0) Saturday 1:30
Scrimmage partners Morgantown and Martinsburg will meet Saturday for the right to advance to the Class AAA state championship game. The teams met in the pre-season August heat. Now three months later, the temperature is likely to be 60 degrees cooler.
Morgantown advanced with a 28-21 win over Capital as senior Joey Musick had another dominating game with 253 yards on the ground and four touchdowns. It was his fourth 200 yard game this season Musick carried the ball a season high 40 times out of the Tomahawk formation against Capital as he took up the slack for a hobbled Chris Glover. Glover was on a season high 40 carries. Morgantown held Capital to negative passing yards and to just 141 total yards.
The next challenge will come from a balanced Martinsburg offense that relies on quarterback Brandon Ashenfelter and running back David Gladden. Ashenfelter has thrown for 1,702 yards and 18 touchdowns while completing 62% of his passes with just four interceptions. Gladden has rushed for 1,558 yards and a school record 24 touchdowns. He also has returned a kick for a touchdown in each of the first two playoff games. Gladden returned the second half kickoff 83 yards for a score against Lewis County during week one. Last week, he had a 98-yarder in a quarterfinal round win over Bridgeport. The Bulldogs have scored a total of three special teams touchdowns in the two games.
The Martinsburg defense has allowed an average of just 8.2 points in 12 games so far this season. The Bulldogs have forced an average of three turnovers per game as well.
These teams will meet in the playoffs for the third time in the past seven seasons.
Morgantown beat Martinsburg 38-12 in the 2004 state title game.
Martinsburg won last year 19-13 in the first round.
The teams have also scrimmaged of late and they played in the 2007 regular season.
A win Saturday would allow Morgantown to compete for its sixth state football championship. The Mohigans won three during the decade of the 2000s.