By: Michael Minnich
Exponent Telegram
Playoff dreams may become reality—or a nightmare—for several schools that enter the final week of the regular season just north or south of the red line.
Petersburg (6-3) at A No. 2 East Hardy (9-0), Friday, 7:30 p.m.
1993.
That was the last time Petersburg made the playoffs.
To change that, the Vikings, 16th in Class AA, will almost certainly have to win on the road against the Cougars in a meeting of two of the more pass-happy teams in the state.
Jacob Hartman has thrown for over 2,000 yards for PHS, while EHHS’s Corey McDonald has done the same and is the defending first-team all-state QB in Class A.
The Cougars defeated Clear Spring (Md.) last week, 62-12, but fell to second in the SSAC rankings.
Still, they are in position to host all the way to Wheeling should they win Friday.
Last year’s game was a 57-48 East Hardy win; don’t be shocked if the point total breaks 100 again this year.
AAA No. 5 Musselman (7-2) at Preston (1-8), Friday, 7 p.m.
The good news for Musselman was that they played Martinsburg even for a half, going to the locker room tied at 14 in a battle of the two teams undefeated against in-state foes in Class AAA.
The bad news for the Applemen: they were outscored 40-0 in the second half.
Latrell Warr rushed for both Musselman touchdowns and finished with 71 yards rushing.
Still, the Applemen will host at least two playoff games with a win this week, sitting in fourth ahead of Morgantown and University, who have completed their regular seasons.
Preston lost 38-14 to Buckhannon-Upshur last week, allowing 24 unanswered points.
Caleb Gribble rushed for a touchdown and Christian Ryan recovered an offensive fumble in the end zone for the other Knights score.
The two schools did not meet last year.
AA No. 8 Keyser (6-3) at Mountain Ridge, Md. (3-6), Friday, 7 p.m.
Maybe don’t punt to the Golden Tornado.
Keyser cruised to a 48-0 win at Frankfort in the annual Mineral Bowl last week, getting a return TD from both Deavonta Johnson and Maleik Garland to move to 12th in the Class AA playoff picture.
Johnson rushed for 92 yards and another score, while Garland also found the end zone an additional time on offense.
The Miners lost to three-time defending Maryland 1A champions Fort Hill, 56-7, last week.
Keyser won last year, 55-18.
Spring Mills (5-4) at Hedgesville (5-4), Friday, 7 p.m.
Basically, this is a play-in game to the postseason, with Hedgesville 13th and Spring Mills 14th in the Class AAA rankings.
The Eagles had a bye last week to rest and scout, while the Cardinals blanked James Wood (Va.) last week, 45-0.
Colton Henson ran for three scores and Demetreus Jalepes two for Spring Mills, who posted a 35-0 shutout in this series last year.
Washington (0-9) at Jefferson (4-5), Friday, 7 p.m.
Despite being under .500, Jefferson is in the playoffs at the moment at No. 15.
The Cougars could have clinched last week, but fell to South Hagerstown, 39-33.
Issac Myers passed for 253 yards and rushed for 192 more in defeat.
Washington led 14-0 against Hampshire last week thanks to rushing TD’s from Steffon Silver and Matthew Grant, but were out-scored 25-0 the rest of the way.
Jefferson won 48-0 in this series last year.
Frankfort (4-5) at Hampshire (1-8), Friday, 7 p.m.
Carter Houdersheldt passed for 122 yards, but Frankfort was shut out at home by Keyser, 48-0, last week.
Hampshire got into the win column with a 25-14 win at Washington last week.
Cole Shaffer, Richie Stanley, Logan Clower, and John Mayfield each scored touchdowns for the Trojans.
Frankfort won last year, 22-14.
Magnolia (1-8) at Moorefield (4-5), Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
What was one of the more anticipated Class A games when the schedule was released—a rematch of last year’s 13-7 Magnolia win in the state semis—now is an afterthought.
Moorefield has lost five straight after dropping a 56-22 decision to Pendleton County.
Meanwhile, the defending state champions, who scored 62 points in the title game alone, have only broken 30 once this year.
Berkeley Springs (2-7) at Hancock, Md. (2-7), Friday, 7 p.m.
Berkeley Springs was blanked at Southern Garrett (Md.), 37-0, last week, while border rival Hancock lost 30-6 to Friends (Md.) to snap a 2-game winning streak.
Berkeley Springs won last year, 48-14.
OFF: AAA No. 1 Martinsburg (10-0) has locked up the No. 1 seed in the Class AAA playoffs.