Last season a total of eight high school football teams advanced to post season play with a won-loss record of 6-4. Of those eight teams, only one made it past the first round and ironically, that one team, Wheeling Central Catholic, went all the way to the Class A title game where they defeated Wahama 28-14 to take home their 8th state football championship. So, there is something to be said for that old adage of “let’s just make the playoffs and see what happens there”!
However, in 2011 the question is “will 6-4 get you in”? The answer is a resounding “ hopefully”, because with seven of the eleven weeks of the high school regular season completed we have several teams with two or fewer losses. In Class AAA, 15 of the top 16 teams have two losses or less…..in Class AA, that number is the same….15 of the top 16 have two losses or less…and, in Class A 14 of the top 16 have two or fewer losses. So, quite simply as we enter into the 8th week of the regular season, those teams who already have four losses will need an extremely strong showing the rest of the way if they plan on playing past the first weekend in November.
When you break down the numbers, Class AAA still has three undefeated teams remaining and of those three (Bridgeport, Martinsburg and George Washington) it would appear the Indians of Bridgeport have the easier road to an unblemished mark. Bridgeport will be favored in all three remaining games with Grafton, Fairmont Senior and North Marion. And only the North Marion game is on the road. For Class AAA #2 Martinsburg, the seemingly toughest of their four remaining games (Patrick Henry of Roanoke, VA., Jefferson, Musselman and Dover, DE.) comes up this weekend when Dave Walker’s ballclub welcomes the Patriots of Patrick Henry. The boys from Roanoke, VA. will bring a 5-1 record to Cobourn Field and a head football coach everyone in WV will remember as former Moorefield High School head football coach Alan Fiddler returns as the head coach of Patrick Henry High School. And, even if the Bulldogs take care of business this week, the Applemen of Musselman, who are currently 5-2, will be waiting for Dave Walker’s ballclub on October 28th. The George Washington Patriots are the third remaining Class AAA undefeated team and Steve Edwards, Jr. and his ballclub has three remaining games and will be favored in all three. However, all three are very good teams as the Patriots will tangle with Riverside and Capital at home, before heading on the road to Wood County the last week of the season to battle 5-2 Parkersburg. In Class AAA we still have two teams with only one loss and ten more with just two losses.
In Class AA, we also have three undefeated teams with Shady Spring at #1, Point Pleasant at #2 and River View checking in at #3. Of those three, Shady Spring seems to be in line to finish out at 10-0 because the remaining three teams on their schedule have a combined record of 8-11. That story is not the same for #2 Point Pleasant because the Big Blacks still have four games remaining and the combined record of those teams is currently 16-8 including 5-1 Ravenswood this week and 6-1 Chapmanville on November 4th. For the undefeated Raiders of River View, their four remaining teams have combined to sit at 10-14 right now, but River View’s last game this season will be on the road at 5-1 #11 Westside.
In Class A, we still have five teams that are undefeated and the reigning state champs from Wheeling Central Catholic seem to be on their way to the playoffs with that same unblemished record in tact. The other four undefeated teams have some really tough games ahead as #2 and 6-0 Wirt County meets head on this weekend with #3 and 6-0 Williamstown. Also, this weekend #6 and undefeated East Hardy will welcome #9 and 4-2 Moorefield to Baker, WV this Friday night. The other undefeated team in Class A is Wahama and the White Falcons have been rolling by every opponent this season however they have yet to play a team from WV. Wahama does have a couple of mountain state games coming up in the next couple of weeks as they still have 4-2 Madonna and 5-1 Buffalo remaining on the schedule.
One more thought, it’s almost unheard of to talk about the playoffs without looking to see where the Bluefield Beavers rank in the top 16 of Class AA. Well, if you look this week you will find the Beavers sitting at #24 with a record of 2-4. The young men from Mercer County have lost to two tough teams from Charlotte, NC….another to a big team from Gate City, VA. and another loss to Class AAA rival Princeton. span>The two Bluefield wins have come over Graham, VA. and Class AAA Greenbrier East. Now the real bad news for Head Coach Freddy Simon’s team is they have only 9 games on the schedule and they were idle last week and will be idle again this weekend. Two weeks off in the middle of the season is not good, but when you are as good as Bluefield has been in the past several years, it’s tough to find opponents. The Beavers will finish their season with a game at Oak Hill and then two home games at Mitchell Stadium with James Monroe and Wayne. If you’re Coach Simon you can only hope to win those three games and finish at 5-4 and hope you have enough bonus points to finish may be 15th or 16th. And then, just like Wheeling Central from Class A last year, get in the playoffs and see what happens.
Once again this week, get out and enjoy a great high school football game in your area and then after the game join Dave Jecklin and me for AARP HIGH SCHOOL GAMENIGHT. The show can be heard on 46 radio stations statewide and on our website at wvmetronews.com.