By: Eric Little – Seven Ranges Radio
The big schools have chances to pick up momentum-building wins for their seasons while a few of the small schools are looking to bounce back from tough losses. Here are this week’s games. Dates/times listed:
Parkersburg (1-3) at Marietta, Ohio (3-1) – 7:00 Friday
Close is nice, but it doesn’t quite cut it in football. Parkersburg High knows that after back-to-back near misses with Capital and Huntington. Two weeks ago, the Cougars pulled away late to earn a 41-19 win over the Big Reds. Last Friday, in a game Huntington led just 14-6 at the half, the top-ranked Highlanders wore the Big Reds down in the second half on the way to a 28-6 win.
The Big Reds were limited to just 35 yards on the ground while Huntington’s 421 total yards came mostly through the run game. And the PHS defense won’t have things better this week as Marietta, Ohio plays host. But this week, it’s not the run that’ll concern Parkersburg – it’s the lethal Tiger aerial attack.
The Tigers are off to a 3-1 start to the season, but stumbled last week in a 15-point loss to St. Marys. The Blue Devils picked up a 23-0 lead in the first quarter and held off Marietta’s efforts to rally. Marietta quarterback Trent Dawson is a multipurpose threat to watch. Last week, he threw for four touchdowns – three of them to Isaac Danford – and ran for a fourth score. The Tigers threw for 379 yards last week against one of the state’s best small school defenses.
It’s quite likely Marietta poses the best passing game the Big Reds have seen thus far, and maybe even the best one they’ll see all year. Not only will the Big Reds need to stop the pass, they’ll need some success of their own through the passing game. Last week, Parkersburg quarterback Ethan Airhart was 16-28 for 161 yards.
This week, if the Big Reds are to win, they’ll likely have to do it in a shootout. The 36 points Marietta scored in their loss was their lowest output of the year. The Tigers have twice topped 50 points.
Parkersburg South (1-3) at John Marshall (0-4) – 7:00 Friday
With 30 consecutive points, the Parkersburg South Patriots picked up their first win of the year by a 39-16 score last week over Warren, Ohio. Warren led early with a field goal and then got the ball back after South fumbled away their first possession. But the Patriots held Warren to a field goal attempt – a miss – and took control of the game after that.
Tyee Gibson broke open a 6-3 halftime lead for the Patriots, returning the opening kickoff of the second half 89 yards for a touchdown. Gibson later added one of South’s five rushing touchdowns in the win as the Patriots showed some muscle in the run game for the first time all year. JT Kemp returned from injury to run for two of those while Brandon Hall and Zane Hinzman picked up the other two. With a little wind at their sails now, South heads up the road to meet a winless John Marshall team that’s had loads of trouble finding the end zone in the last two weeks.
The Monarchs have a total of six points in those games. Also not good for John Marshall? If they want to turn things around this season, they’ll have to do it mostly away from the friendly confines of Monarch Stadium. John Marshall hits the road for all but one of their final five contests, including matchups against Morgantown and defending state champion Wheeling Park.
The one thing the Patriots have shown throughout all four games is effort that hasn’t wavered, and if that stays true Friday, good things are in store – this week and the rest of the way. This game can be heard locally on V96.9 FM and online at www.v969radio.net.
Williamstown (3-1) at Ravenswood (1-3) – 7:30 Friday
The best bounceback effort of the week belongs to the Williamstown Yellowjackets. After a tough loss to cross-river Marietta, Ohio – one where Williamstown surrendered 44 points – the Yellowjackets swatted Wheeling Central at home 36-37 last week. Trenton Tallman scored four touchdowns for Williamstown on a night where the signal-caller approached 300 rushing yards.
As far as offense goes, Williamstown has to be pleased with a unit that racked up 471 total yards of it against the Maroon Knights. But Williamstown allowed Wheeling Central to gain 430 yards last week, putting the total number of yards allowed by Williamstown’s defense at more than 900 in the last two weeks combined.
That won’t happen this week as the Yellowjackets face the upstart Ravenswood Red Devils. Ravenswood very likely picked up the area’s biggest upset of last week, and one of the biggest in all of Class A with a 28-21 win over Tyler Consolidated. Running only a few plays, the Red Devils picked up all 401 of their total yards on the ground.
Most of those came on Alex Casto’s three touchdown runs, including a 99-yarder that set a school record. Williamstown’s run defense will prove a tougher test in a game that will be a needed confidence-booster for one of the perennial strengths of the Yellowjacket program.
Tyler Consolidated (2-2) at Calhoun County (1-3) – 7:00 Friday
Tyler Consolidated had to feel like things were rolling for their program headed into last week’s matchup with Ravenswood. And they were…until the Silver Knights realized the Red Devils showed up to play.
Ravenswood didn’t look like the team that hadn’t scored more than two touchdowns in any of their first three contests. Instead, the Red Devils used a very simple playbook to outscore the Silver Knights 28-6 over the final three quarters to earn the stunning 28-21 victory. The Silver Knights return home to pick up the pieces against a struggling Calhoun County team that broke into the win column for a two-point win against Ritchie County last week.
The positives for the Silver Knights? Jace Reed scored two touchdowns to lead a balanced Silver Knight attack. But while the attack was balanced, it just wasn’t abundant enough. 276 total yards of offense will win some games, but not most of them. This will be a good week for the Silver Knights to solve any deficiencies in the run defense and turn their run game into the well-oiled unit it’ll need to be to pick up wins against the likes of South Harrison, Magnolia and St. Marys.
This game will air locally on 92.3 FM and online at www.wxcr.com.
George Washington (1-3) at Ripley (2-2) – 7:00 Friday
After being limited to just 34 total points in the first three weeks of the season, the Ripley Vikings exploded for 50 in a blowout win over St. Albans. This week, we’ll get a better idea what the Vikings are made of as they host George Washington.
GW stumbled last week after a six-point loss to top-ranked Huntington, falling 54-21 to Spring Valley. So which George Washington team shows up Friday – the one that came close to a big upset or the one that got rolled last week? I cannot tell a lie…only time will tell for both George Washington and Ripley
Doddridge County (2-2) at Ritchie County (0-4) – 7:30 Friday
In a season where winnable games have been present, another opportunity slipped through the Ritchie County Rebels’ fingers last week. Calhoun County edged Ritchie County 26-24 in a matchup of winless teams from neighboring counties.
This week, another neighbor comes calling as Doddridge County rides into town on the heels of a 38-14 win over Tygarts Valley. The Bulldogs amassed 425 total yards of offense in the win. They were led by the 179 rushing yards and four scores from Curtis James. The Bulldogs rarely pass the football, so Ritchie County knows what it’ll need to focus on in this matchup.
The Rebel defensive line will need to be forceful and will have to contain Doddridge County in the backfield to stop their offense from gaining momentum. This game can be heard locally on Lite Rock 93R (93.9 FM) and online at www.literock93r.com.
Roane County (3-1) at Braxton County (2-1) – 7:30 Friday
In another shocking result from last week, the high-powered Roane County rushing attack was held scoreless last week in a 35-0 loss to Nicholas County. Tyler May ran for 165 of Roane’s 178 rushing yards, but was kept out of the end zone.
This week’s opponent, Braxton County, picked up a 40-35 loss to Lewis County on Friday – their first loss of the season. Both teams will be eager to get back on track, but I’d be hard-pressed to think May will be kept out of the end zone for much longer.
Sherman (3-1) at Wirt County (1-3) – 7:00 Friday
After winning their opener, Wirt County has dropped three straight. The latest came in shutout fashion thanks to Parkersburg Catholic. Few things went right for the Tigers in the 41-0 loss. In addition to Parkersburg Catholic’s offensive scores, the Crusaders also scored on a pick-six and a safety when Wirt County had to fall on a bad snap following a punt attempt.
Offensively, Wirt County has struggled since a 33-point output in an opening week win against Calhoun County. In the three games that followed, Wirt scored a total of 18 points. They’ll need to find answers if they want to stem the rising Sherman Tide.
Despite a loss last week against Gilmer County, Sherman scored 25 points or more in three straight wins to start the season.
Other Games:
Hundred (0-3) at Paden City (0-3) – 7:00 Friday
Wahama (1-3) at Federal Hocking, Ohio (0-4) – 7:30 Friday