Talkline with Hoppy Kercheval  Watch |  Listen

Southwestern: Top 5 battle between Spring Valley, Cabell Midland

By: Wes McKinney, WVMetroNews.com

 

No. 5 AAA Spring Valley at No. 4 AAA Cabell Midland

There are several high profile games all over the slate in week one of the high school football season in West Virginia, but this game may trump them all.

Spring Valley made headlines this offseason as offensive lineman Riley Locklear committed to Tennessee, while sophomore offensive lineman Doug Nester picked numerous Power 5 offers. And the hype surrounding Spring Valley this season is the highest it’s been in some time.

“It’s exciting when people think you are going to be good,” Spring Valley head coach Brad Dingess said. “We’ve worked hard all offseason. This is one of the more talented teams I’ve had. I think we’ve made some strides from last season.”

Spring Valley lost just eight seniors from its 2015 playoff team as the Timberwolves eye a deep playoff run.
Spring Valley lost just eight seniors from its 2015 playoff team as the Timberwolves eye a deep playoff run.

On the flip side, Cabell Midland was the best team during the regular season in 2015 as it went undefeated before falling to Capital in the Class AAA semifinals.

Although Cabell Midland lost the three-headed rushing attack of Devin Stapleton, Caperton Humphrey and Jacob Hendricks, waiting in the wings are more playmakers for the Knights.

Ivan Vaughn and Drew Keeton are expected to split time at tailback, while Isaiah Duncan will take over at fullback.

“I don’t think I’ve ever started a sophomore at tailback, but Ivan is really good,” Cabell Midland head coach Luke Salmons said. “And Isaiah has a ton of potential at fullback. He can run, catch the ball in the open field and block.”

But how good is this new crop of running backs for Cabell Midland? Just ask Dingess.

“Just watching them in some scrimmages, this might be the fastest team he has had,” Digness said. “They have so many kids that play one way, it’s tough to play them week one because we’re still getting in game shape and they have kids playing half as many snaps.”

This game will be a contrast of Spring Valley’s size versus Cabell Midland’s speed. However, don’t discount the skill players the Timberwolves possess, led by senior Mason Brubeck.

“That kid can do it all for us,’ Dingess said of Brubeck. “We have Derek Johnson back at quarterback. He’s going to be doing a lot of different things for us.

“I think a kid that has flown under the radar is Owen Porter,“ Dingess continued. “He may be our best all-around football player on both sides of the ball. He’s played linebacker for us and we are going to rotate him in some at tailback.”

Despite having ball carriers as first-year starters, Salmons firmly believes his backs have the same potential as the same guys that led the Knights to a No.1 seed in the playoffs last season.

“All those kids know the system and the plays,” Salmons said of Duncan, Keeton and Vaughn. “Right now, they are just making small mistakes such as hitting the wrong hole. I’m showing them film though and they are continuing to learn.

“Devin (Stapleton) and Caperton (Humphrey) made the same mistakes early on last year, so these guys aren’t that far behind.”

The Knights haven’t lost a game in this series since 2011, including beating Spring Valley twice during the 2012 season. This game is also ultra important for the Timberwolves who have four of their first five games against top 11 playoff teams from a season ago.

“Spring Valley always gives us a battle,” Salmons said. “There’s no secrets when we play because both of us know what the other likes to do. The environment is going to be unbelievable. I think it was in 2012 when we played them at home there were almost 8,000 people in the stands.”

 

Brooke at No. 7 AAA Huntington

The consistency of Huntington football success under Billy Seals continued last season as the Highlanders made another quarterfinal run in the Class AAA playoffs.

However, several key players graduated including running back Dionne Jackson and linebacker Ryan Gatrell.

“We may have a kid that’s a junior in the classroom, but he hasn’t played any on Friday nights,“ Seals said. “With our tough schedule, especially early on, those guys are going to have to grow up real quick for us to be where we want to be at the end of the year.”

Just like in the past, the calling card and strength of Seals’ team will be the offensive and defensive line and the ability to control the line of scrimmage.

“This is the strongest football team we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Seals said. “The offensive line starts with North Carolina commit Billy Ross. We also have Gus Workman back who was the starting center last year. Jacob Romans has played a little bit for us, he will be our left guard. Sophomores Noah Smith and Darnell Wright have been very impressive and will start up front as well.

The defensive line is just as strong led by all-state performer Ryan Mills.

The Highlanders narrowly got out of Wellsburg last season with a 17-13 win, and this year, it’s Brooke making the long trip to Bob Sang Stadium.

“Their quarterback (Koty Hudson) is back and we were really impressed with him last year,” Seals said. “He can make plays on the run and he has the ability to run the option. “Obviously, they don’t have the tight end (Nathan Green) and wide receiver (Thomas Cole) they did.

“Brooke is a fundamentally sound football team offensively,“ Seals continued. “Defensively, they run a 4-4 that they are very aggressive out of. We will have to bring our A-game Friday night to get a win.”

 

Class AA No. 2 Point Pleasant at Lincoln County

Point Pleasant begins life without Cody Mitchell Friday night on the road at Lincoln County — and also life in Class AA once again.

The Big Blacks had plenty of success in the large schools division of West Virginia, including a trip to the Class AAA semifinals last season, before falling to eventual state champion Wheeling Park.

Even though Mitchell has donned the Kelly green of Marshall, plenty of talent returns for the Big Blacks, including quarterback Cason Payne, Grant Safford at running back and future LSU offensive lineman Seth Stewart.

“You’re going to face losing seniors every year, and you have to replace them,” Point Pleasant head coach David Darst said. “Payne has really matured during the offseason.

“He’s way ahead of where he was last year,” Darst said of his signal caller. “I’m blessed to have a great running back, back in Grant Safford. We also have four of our five offensive linemen back. Those guys bring a lot of maturity to our offense up front.”

Like Point Pleasant, Lincoln County dropped down to Class AA, becoming the largest school in the classification. Despite the recent struggles of the Panthers, Darst believes this Lincoln County team could be talented.

“I think they only graduated two or three seniors from last year’s team,” Darst said of Lincoln County. “(Head coach Randy Adkins is) going to return a team that has played a lot of football together. I expect to see one of the better teams they have had at Lincoln County. We’ve scouted them offensively and they look really good.”

 

Class AA No. 5 Mingo Central at Wyoming East

The final season for Yogi Kinder as football coach at Mingo Central will begin Friday night on the road as the Miners look to handle Wyoming East in the same fashion they did last year, defeating the Warriors 59-7 at home to open up the season.

“Wyoming East is a team that is always going to have good size on its team,” Kinder said. “It’s been a pretty good rivalry between us. Last year was the first year that we got them pretty good.”

Some notable players from Mingo Central’s semifinal playoff run return including wide receivers Dalton Sheppard and Tyler Grimmett, but the Miners have to replace quarterback Stevie Hammond.

And Mingo Central will turn to Caleb Lester under center this season, who in the past has played several positions for Mingo Central.

“K-Bo, as everyone calls him, has played some linebacker, he’s also been our kicker and punter,” Kinder said. “Stevie was a great athlete, but he was only about 5’5”, Caleb has some size to him.”

Also in the backfield for Mingo Central will be fullback Joe Hunt who is coming off injury, but Kinder expects him to make an impact.

Each of the last three seasons, Mingo Central has advanced further into the playoffs: losing in the first round in 2013, falling into the quarterfinals two years ago and getting beat by Tolsia last season in the semifinals.

Kinder hopes better conditioning in August carry the Miners one step further in the postseason, to Wheeling.

“Our practices have been a little harder because we wanted to go a little further,” Kinder explained. “We want to be in better condition and better shape later in the season.“

 

Class AA No. 9 Wayne at Class A No. 6 Tolsia

After Wayne dominated this Wayne County rivalry for some time, Tolsia stunned the Pioneers to begin the season last year, winning 49-34.

The win was the beginning of a 12-2 season and Class AA runner-up finish as senior running back Luke Presley put up big numbers week after week. For Wayne, its season never got on track as the Pioneers surprisingly missed the playoffs at 5-5.

Wayne lost skill players Logan Queen and Cody Stiltner from last season’s team, but returns all-state lineman Chris Brewer as part of a six-man senior class in the trenches.

Meanwhile, Tolsia dropped down to Class A. Along with the loss of Presley, the Rebels also graduated his running mate in the backfield, quarterback Seth McMillan.

 

Man at Logan (Thursday night)

Man has won the last two games in this series, albeit by a combined 11 points, but the Hillbillies have gotten some big time bonus points right out of the gate the last two seasons by defeating its county rival.

After being a Class AAA versus Class A matchup over the last few years, this game will pit two Class AA teams with Logan dropping down and Man moving up.

Failing to make the playoffs in the last two seasons and only winning six combined games during that span, the Wildcats hope the move down in class will rejuvenate their program.

 

Chapmanville at Sissonville

A lot has changed for Chapmanville coming off its first playoff appearance since 2011.

For starters, long time head coach George Barker stepped down at season’s end, handing the reins over to Rob Dial.

Dial is immediately tasked with replacing one of the top pass-catching duos in Class AA with the graduation of quarterback Alex Berry and wide receiver Jacob Dingess.

After falling to Robert C. Byrd in the first round of the playoff last season, the Tigers will be relatively young this season with just seven seniors on their roster.

 

Other Games: 

Herbert Hoover at Scott

Hannan at Montcalm

Tug Valley at Sherman

Meadow Bridge at Van





More High School Sports

High School Sports
Class AAAA Boys Basketball All-State List
Morgantown guard Sharron Young captain of first team.
March 29, 2024 - 9:25 am
High School Sports
Herbert Hoover improves to 10-0 with 2-1 win over Hurricane
The Huskies collected a pair of victories Thursday in the Guard the Capital Invitational in Charleston.
March 29, 2024 - 12:51 am
High School Sports
Independence bests Wahama, 10-2 in the Guard the Capital Tournament
March 28, 2024 - 9:03 pm
High School Sports
Photo gallery: University defeats Bridgeport, 12-3
March 28, 2024 - 6:24 pm