MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — There were six high school football games between ranked teams on Friday night in Week 2 of the season in West Virginia.
A few delivered, while others were a little more lopsided than expected.
Bridgeport wins battle of AAA and AA defending state champions
Class AA No. 1 Bridgeport (2-0) went on the road to beat AAA No. 2 Wheeling Park (1-1) 24-13 in a game didn’t appear to be in question for long. The Indians won the game with defense and a grind it out offense, holding Wheeling Park to just 203 total yards and only 16 yards on the ground.
Both teams entered the year with a lot of holes to fill following championship seasons from 2015.
“What an unbelievable nine game series we’ve had with Wheeling Park,” said Bridgeport coach Josh Nicewarner. “We needed to take a big step forward for our team with this game and we were able to accomplish that tonight.”
MORE: Complete MetroNews high school football scoreboard.
J.T. Harris finished with 135 yards and two touchdowns on the ground in the win for Bridgeport, adding to his three-touchdown effort in Week 1.
“It was a grind it out type of game for us,” Nicewarner said. “We were able to get back to our old ways of driving the football and moving the chains – that put Wheeling Park behind the eight-ball a little bit.
“It wasn’t a perfect performance offensively, but J.T. (Harris) and Mackenzie Holmes made plays – that’s what we need them to do sometimes with an inexperienced line like we have,” he continued. “J.T. had 30 carries tonight and that’s a lot more than I would like for him to have. But, he gutted it out and put up a great performance.”
Huntington’s Kessinger hits 53-yard field goal in top 5 win over Spring Valley
Class AAA No. 5 Huntington (2-0) edged No. 3 Spring Valley (1-1) on the road 17-13 as senior kicker Cason Kessinger hit a school record 53-yard field goal in the win.
“I asked him if he could hit it and he told me ‘without a doubt,'” said Huntington coach Billy Seals. “It was probably good from 55 and he was hitting them from 60 yards during pregame – he was feeling good tonight. Those were three big points for us in the ballgame. We knew he had the distance and that’s big time.”
Huntington was terrific defensively, holding Spring Valley to just those 13 points after the Timberwolves put up 55 against Cabell Midland in Week 1.
Highlights: Huntington 17, Spring Valley 13
The Highlanders gave up just six points in a Week 1 win over Brooke and continued that effort against Spring Valley, finishing with 13 total tackles for a loss in the game.
“Our kids are real tough, gritty kids,” Seals said. “We knew we would be challenged this week physically. Spring Valley is a really good football team. Their quarterback is really good and we did a nice job of trying to hem up. We felt that if we allowed him to get north and south, then we were going to be in trouble. Our kids did a tremendous job of getting to the football and executing the plan.”
Cabell Midland bounces back with shutout win over South Charleston
AAA No. 8 Cabell Midland (1-1), meanwhile, looked a little more back to form, shutting out No. 7 South Charleston (1-1) 29-0. It was a nice bounce back after getting beat 55-26 last week by Spring Valley.
Cabell Midland put up 407 total yards of offense (379 on the ground) and held South Charleston to just 132 total yards (22 rushing yards). Three Cabell Midland rushers finished with over 100 yards in the game: Ivan Vaughn totaled 140 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries, while Drew Keeton finished with 116 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries and Korah Booker-Hill tallied 107 yards on six carries.
South Charleston, on the other hand, hasn’t scored an offensive touchdown through two games.
Mingo Central, Moorefield and Williamstown win top 10 matchups
Class AA No. 4 Mingo Central (2-0) avenged two losses to Tolsia from 2015 with a 42-20 win over the Class A No. 3 Rebels (1-1) on Friday night. Miners’ quarterback Jeremy Dillon followed up his Week 1 six-touchdown effort with another strong showing in Week 2, including over 100 yards rushing.
Class A No. 5 Williamstown (2-0) beat No. 8 and defending state champion Magnolia (0-2) 34-12. Williamstown quarterback Trenton rushed for 312 yards and scored five total touchdowns (three rushing, two passing).
A No. 6 Moorefield (2-0) battled through injuries and won a tough matchup over No. 10 Pocahontas County (1-1) 21-14. Moorefield’s Varsey Bright finished with 186 yards on 20 carries in the win.
“All of our linemen are back except for one, and we’re running the ball,” said Moorefield coach Josh See. “We’re trying to beat everyone up front and everyone always says that you win ballgames on the line of scrimmage – that’s what we’ve been able to do tonight.”
Princeton, Standifur send Bluefield to 0-2 start
AAA Princeton (2-0) senior running back Zach Standifur rushed for 227 yards and four touchdowns on 40 carries as the Tigers beat AA No. 8 Bluefield (0-2) 32-21. Bluefield will look for its first win next week against Woodrow Wilson, while Princeton will have a difficult matchup on the road at No. 1 Martinsburg. The Bulldogs on Friday night edged Sherando (Va.) 35-28.