When practice began back in August, 116 high school teams had equal opportunity to be on Wheeling Island this weekend and play for a state championship. And even though there were only six slots available, the numbers game was simple….survive week by week by winning, and you’re in! The six teams that will travel to the Island for the three title games this weekend have done exactly that! In fact, the six teams still alive have a combined won/loss record of 70-5-2!
In Class AAA, there will be a chance for a repeat champion as the Capital Cougars pulled the upset last weekend when they jumped on the previously undefeated Knights of Cabell Midland and won the game going away by a final score of 35-13. The play of a soon to be Mountaineer, QB Tyree Pratt, has been something to see over the last couple of weeks of the playoffs. With the injured Silas Nizario on the bench, Pratt has put the Cougars on his back and the Capital crew has ridden their star back to the AAA title game. This Saturday afternoon, Capital will go against the Wheeling Park Patriots on the Patriots home field and will try to accomplish something the last four state AAA champions have done and that is win back to back titles. Morgantown won in 2004 and 2005…..Parkersburg grabbed the titles in 2006 and 2007……South Charleston won it all in 2008 and 2009 and of course Martinsburg holds the Class AAA record for most title wins in a row as the Bulldogs were the King of the Hill in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013! The Capital Cougars will enter the contest at high noon this Saturday with a record of 10-2 losing in the regular season to Cabell Midland 21-14 on September 11 and to George Washington 32-21 on October 16. For Wheeling Park they will come into the match-up with a record of 11-1-1 with their only loss coming to Brooke on September 25th by a score of 21-18. That tie on the Patriots record came in week 2 of the season when Wheeling Park traveled to Bridgeport and after playing only a few minutes of the 1st quarter saw the scoreless game stopped because of weather. While the Capital Cougars have a total of 4 state championship titles, Wheeling Park has none. In fact, Wheeling Park has never played in the champonship game since the Super Six began play on Wheeling Island some 21 years ago. The last time Wheeling Park played in a AAA championship game was 1991 and ironically they lost to Capital 15-14! Saturday’s title game should be very good!
The Class AA game will be played this Friday night in Wheeling and the Bridgeport Indians will be trying to do something only one other Class AA team has been able to accomplish….win back to back to back state titles! The Poca Dots won state titles in 2001 – 2002 and 2003. The Bridgeport Indians will try to add their name to that very elite list on Friday night when they take their undefeated record into the game with the once beaten Rebels of Tolsia. For Tolsia, this will mark only the second time they have played in a state football championship game. In 2006 the Rebels lost to Wayne 33-6 in the title game. For Head Coach Mike Smith of Tolsia, this will mark the first time he and his young coaching staff has ever played for the championship so you know the butterflies will be fluttering this Friday night. The Rebels only loss of the season came in week number ten when Tolsia traveled on Halloween night to Boyd County, Kentucky and dropped a 34-32 decision. As mentioned, their opponent has not lost this season and the Bridgeport Indians will enter the title tilt with a record of 12-0-1. That lone tie, has mentioned before, came with Wheeling Park on September 4th. It is certainly no secret Josh Nicewarner and the Bridgeport Indians love to run the football. Head Coach Mike Smith says the strength of his ballclub all season long has been stopping the opponents running game! This game should be a great way to open the 2015 Super Six this Friday night.
The Class A game will feature a familiar name in the championship and a name that has never been to the final game. The Magnolia Blue Eagles have been the team to beat all season long in Class A and will enter the game Saturday night at 7p with a perfect 13-0 mark. Magnolia owns two championship titles having won their first in 1964 and their last in 2010. Last year, Magnolia finished the regular season with a 4-6 record and out of the field of 16. But with most of those kids returning, Head Coach Josh Sims knew the Blue Eagles would be pretty good this year and he has been right. Leaning on the play of quarterback Nick Priem, Magnolia has been impressive all season long. Their opponent also knew 2015 could be special. Last year, the Cougars of East Hardy finished 7-3 and entered the playoff field as the number 14 seed. The Cougars upset #3 seed Notre Dame 30-22 in the first round but saw their season end in the quarter-finals when they traveled to #6 Williamstown and lost by 20. This season, the Cougars lost only to Pendleton County by five points. While East Hardy thought they had a real good chance to be in the Super Six this year, Head Coach Chad Williams says the toughest part of this week will be to keep his kids focused and make sure they know the job is not finished. Like the Class AAA and Class AA game, the Class A game has a chance to be very good.
Don’t forget, all three games of the 2015 Super Six will be carried live on the MetroNews Radio Network and will be heard on many great radio stations around the state. If you can’t find the games on a radio station in your area, just log on to wvmetronews.com for all the live action.