To have upsets in round one of the high school football playoffs is certainly nothing new. In 2010, in Class AA #11 Frankfort upset #6 River View and #9 Roane County eliminated #8 Pt. Pleasant while in Class A that year, #9 East Hardy defeated #8 Tucker County. In 2011, in Class AAA #11 Hurricane defeated #6 Elkins while in Class AA #14 Keyser eliminated #3 Westside and #13 Chapmanville sent #4 Lincoln packing. Just last year, in Class AAA #11 Lewis County dispatched of #6 University and #10 Musselman defeated #7 Capital. So clearly the records show, upsets in round one of the playoffs are to be expected. So, no surprise this past weekend when five higher ranked teams fell victim to the upset bug. In Class AA, #13 Robert C. Byrd upset #4 Frankfort….#12 Ritchie County defeated #5 Summers County and #11 Nicholas County defeated #6 Wyoming East. In Class A, we had two more upsets as #14 Magnolia took care of previously unbeaten #3 Valley-Fayette and #12 Bishop Donahue disposed of #5 Man.
Now with the start of the second week of the playoffs, last week’s field of 48 has been reduced to 24 teams and we really have some great matchups in all three classes. First up in Class AAA, the game that really stands out is #6 University on the road to Charleston to take on #3 Capital. That game will kick off at 1:30 this Saturday afternoon. Both teams sport an impressive record of 10-1 with University’s only loss coming on the road at #5 Wheeling Park by a score of 17-6 and Capital’s only blemish was handed to the Cougars by the #1 team in Class AAA as Huntington won 24-10 back on October 4th. Both teams sport a great defensive unit as University has given up only 21 points in their last 4 games and Capital has relinquished just 30 points in their last 4 outings. Another game in Class AAA that should be fun to watch takes place this Friday night when the 5th ranked Patriots of Wheeling Park travel the 161 miles from the northern panhandle to take on the 4th ranked and unbeaten Big Blacks of Pt. Pleasant. The only loss for Wheeling Park this season came on the road back in early October when they lost 41-38 to Morgantown. For Pt. Pleasant this year, they have outscored their first 11 oponents by an average of 44-12. Also in Class AAA, #1 Huntington will entertain #8 George Washington Friday night and #7 Cabell Midland will make the long 341 mile bus ride to the eastern panhandle to battle #2 Martinsburg in a game that kicks at 1:30 Saturday afternoon.
In Class AA this weekend, three of the four games will be played this Friday night and quite possibly the best game of the weekend will take place in Ellenboro when #13 Robert C. Byrd travels the 43 miles to battle the 12th ranked Rebels of Ritchie County. Both teams enter the game Friday night at 7:30 with 8 wins and 3 defeats but none of the 3 losses came against the same opponent. Both teams however did defeat two of the same teams……Ritchie County defeated Lincoln by 13 points while Robert C. Byrd defeated Lincoln by 14 points. Robert C. Byrd took care of Grafton by 14 while Ritchie County defeated the Bearcats by 34! This should be a good game. Also in Class AA, the other two games on Friday night finds #8 Sissonville at #1 Wayne (the Pioneers defeated the Indians 58-19 in the regular season) and #11 Nicholas County will travel to Mitchell Stadium to battle #3 Bluefield. The one game on Saturday afternoon in Class AA will feature the 7th ranked Polar Bears of Fairmont Senior taking on the 2nd ranked Indians of Bridgeport. During the regular season, Bridgeport defeated Fairmont Senior 37-14.
In Class A, all four games will be played on Saturday, November 23rd with three games scheduled for a 1:30 kickoff and the final game of the weekend at 7:30. In that last game of the night, we will have a repeat of last year’s Class A Championship game that saw the White Falcons of Wahama defeat the Blue Dons of Madonna in overtime 43-42. This season it has been Madonna that has been on top of the Class A rankings as Doug Taylor’s squad is 11-0 and have outscored their opponents 514 to 106! And, while those numbers are impressive, Wahama’s White Falcons have proved to be an offensive juggernaut as well as the defending champs have ran over their opponents by a total of 543 to 159! If you’re going to the game at Jimmy Carey Stadium in Weirton Saturday night, don’t blink….you may miss a couple of scores! On Saturday afternoon at 1:30 three games will be played in Class A as #7 Greenbrier West will visit #2 and undefeated St. Marys…..#14 Magnolia will travel to take on #6 Moorefield and #12 Bishop Donahue will be at #4 Williamstown.
Just in case you are making plans, don’t forget the Super Six will be held in Wheeling on Friday and Saturday, December 6th and 7th! Hard to believe, but this will be the 20th year for the Super Six to be decided at Wheeling Island Stadium….a great venue for a great event!
Be sure and join Dave Jecklin and me this Friday night for another edition of GAMENIGHT….we have all the scores plus the previews of the games scheduled for Saturday. Talk with you then!