This weekend, the 2014 high school football season for 68 teams will come to a close! As of this writing, 61 teams have already been eliminated and depending on the outcome of games this weekend, 7 more teams will pack their gear away. Breaking it down withing each classification, going into this weekend’s play, in Class AAA 18 teams are already eliminated with 4 more joining that number. In Class AA, 23 teams have been eliminated and 1 more will be added to that number. In Class A, 20 teams already know they won’t be involved in the 2014 playoff field and 2 more teams will be officially notified this weekend. Now, let me give credit where credit is due……I did not personally add all the numbers to come to the above conclusion. My good friends at WTOV-TV in the Wheeling/Steubenville area track the numbers all season long and while their numbers are “unofficial”, each year they seem to be spot on!
So, using the numbers supplied by WTOV-TV, there will be several familiar “names” wrapping up their high school football season earlier than planned. In Class AAA, the one school that definitely jumps off the eliminated sheet is Morgantown. This year, the Mohigans suffered through an unbelievable number of injuries and finished the regular season with a record of 4-6. This marks the first time in 19 years Morgantown won’t be in the playoff field of 16. A couple of other teams in Class AAA that won’t be playing past this weekend are the Brooke Bruins and the Monarchs of John Marshall. In Class AA, four teams that made the playoff field last year have been eliminated this season. Summers County, Roane County, Ritchie County and Philip Barbour will have to put away the football gear when the regular season ends this weekend. In fact, the Bobcats of Summers County have already wrapped up their regular season and finished 2014 with a 1-9 record. Last year, Summers County finished the regular season 9-1 and went into the 2013 playoffs as the #5 seed in Class AA. In Class A, there will be several “names” missing from the playoff field of 16 this year. In fact, the reigning Class A State Champion from last season has been eliminated this year. The Blue Dons of Madonna finished last year with a perfect 14-0 mark and this year will finish at either 3-7 or 2-8, depending on the outcome of this weekend’s game with Clay-Battelle. However, Madonna is not alone in finishing outside that top 16. Other schools that we have become accustomed to moving on after the regular season but will be sidelined after this weekend include Wheeling Central Catholic…..Magnolia…..Valley-Fayette and Tucker County!
Now while several teams have already been eliminated, there are several teams with still a lot to play for this weekend. A lot of teams in all three classes are playing for that all important seeding and still some are trying to still make the field of 16. Week number eleven is always fun to watch and just a reminder, we will have a very good idea of which teams will be in and which teams will be out when we meet for GAMENIGHT this Friday night at 9:30! Make sure you join Dave Jecklin and me this Friday night on the show. And, follow our coverage at our website at wvmetronews.com!