Eric Little – Seven Ranges Radio for WVMetroNews.com
You can use an old wedding superstition to sum up opening week of the high school football season in the Mid-Ohio Valley: Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.
Something old: Opening week features the renewal of several rivalries and matchups that have served as longtime season openers for the teams involved.
Something new: Parkersburg High School has a new head coach as the program enters the Mike Byus era.
Something borrowed: Parkersburg Catholic opens against new opponent Magnolia at Parkersburg High School’s Stadium Field. (A slight stretch, I know.)
Something blue: The St. Marys Blue Devils are the defending Class A state champions.
All game times Friday at 7:00, unless otherwise listed:
Class A No. 1 St. Marys (0-0) at Ritchie County (0-0)
For the first time in school history, St. Marys opens a season with a state title to defend. After a storybook year that culminated with a championship, the Blue Devils must begin the hard work of forgetting about a happy memory (for the time being) for the sake of making a new one.
The Blue Devils will place a new man under center in junior Eric Illar, who replaces the WVU-bound Will Billeter. Any team breaking in a new quarterback wishes to have two things in their favor: an experienced offensive line and a strong running back.
The Blue Devils will have both, with a line anchored by senior Tucker Dalrymple and Kennedy Award candidate Jaiden Smith in the backfield. As for Smith, he’ll be a key part of what St. Marys does offensively this season and will play a huge role in helping his new quarterback get acquainted with his surroundings.
But it will be imperative for the Blue Devils to quickly develop secondary threats.
Ritchie County head coach Kaleb Lawrence is in his third season and is starting to get the investment from his players he’s been looking for all along. Time in the weight room, leadership in the locker room, commitment to the team – all things Lawrence says are improving in year three.
“Those older kids that were freshmen when we started are now juniors, so it’s great to see things starting to click.” Lawrence said. “Finally, the light bulb goes on. It’s great to see that for them.”
For the Rebels, the key will be to not show intimidation. It’s a long season, and a challenging opener, so Ritchie County will need resolve in both areas.
For St. Marys, it will be important to set the winning attitude in the opener and to show there’s no complacency when it comes to defending a title.
This game will air live locally on Lite Rock 93R (93.9 FM) and online at www.literock93r.com.
St. Albans (0-0) at Parkersburg (0-0)
Madison, West Virginia native Mike Byus returns to his home state after a long stint in North Carolina to lead one of the state’s most storied football programs.
The Parkersburg Big Reds have lost their luster after several seasons of going nowhere as a program, but under. Byus, PHS is looking for a return to glory and the state playoffs. The Big Reds will have new leadership under center as well, as Kam Mace has earned the quarterback job entering the season. Byus has been impressed with Mace’s ability to learn the PHS offense.
“Kam Mace has picked up our offense as quickly as any quarterback I’ve ever had, and in such a short period of time.” Byus said. “There will be growing pains, but honestly, out of a six or seven week period, I’ve never had anybody pick it up so fast.”
The numbers are up from where they were last year, but one of the big unanswered questions? Will the Big Reds have the athleticism to compete in their current schedule – a very tough slate for a team trying to make a return to postseason play.
“That’s a question for our assistant coaches. They’ve been through this schedule. I haven’t.” Byus said. “So we’ll have to see if we are where we need to be.”
Perhaps more than anything, Byus wants to see his team play more instinctively.
“We’ve got to play up to our athletic ability by 100%.” Byus remarked. “We don’t need to take slow steps because we’re overthinking.”
Parkersburg South (0-0) at Ripley (0-0) (7:30 Friday)
Parkersburg South’s 2016 season ended with a double-overtime win on the home field of their chief rival – Parkersburg High School. Within a week, the player who scored the game-winning touchdown in that game – junior captain JT Kemp – was a student at Ripley High School, where he’ll lead his new team into action against his former one.
On top of that, the Patriots led this matchup deep in the fourth quarter of a low-scoring game last year, until a late turnover led to Ripley’s go-ahead score. So this traditional season opener has some interesting implications on the line for both sides.
South still has a full stable in the backfield, led by Zane Hinzman and Tyee Gibson. The Patriots will debut a new man under center in junior Brayden Mooney, a young man with a strong arm and the football savvy to run head coach Mike Eddy’s offense.
Ripley is still trying to get things going as a program under third year head coach Eddie Smolder. The Vikings got off to a strong start last year with the win over Parkersburg South, and finished only a few points away from a few other victories, so expect the Vikings to be looking for better results in 2017 so they can take the next step.
A win for both teams will greatly boost their respective chances of fulfilling their team goals for this year. This game will air live locally on V96.9 FM and online at www.v969radio.net.
Magnolia (0-0) at Parkersburg Catholic (0-0) (7:00 Saturday)
Parkersburg Catholic head coach Lance Binegar has great respect for Magnolia head coach Dave Chapman, so it’s fitting these two meet on the gridiron in the season-opener.
The Blue Eagles will be looking to get back to the form that made Magnolia a Class A state champion in 2015. The Crusaders will once again be fighting a tough battle with numbers, as Parkersburg Catholic had just 13 or 14 players for many of their August practices. That’s a number Binegar expects to rise slightly in the lead up to the season, but he still knows the Crusaders will have to do more with less this year.
“We just gotta work twice as hard as everyone else, because we don’t have 20 or 30 kids.” Binegar said. “That’s our motto. We’ve got to work twice as hard.”
Jeb Boice and Ty Sturm return to anchor the backfield for Parkersburg Catholic, and are perhaps as good a duo as any in the area. Conditioning and health will be keys for the Crusaders this season, or else Parkersburg Catholic will need to look to the hallways for reinforcements to finish their schedule.
Class A No. 10 Tyler Consolidated (0-0) at No. 4 Williamstown (0-0)
In another game that’s opened the season for both schools for many years, the Williamstown Yellowjackets open the season at home against Tyler Consolidated. The 2014 Class A state champion Yellowjackets have a new quarterback in junior Carter Haynes.
Last season against Buffalo, with starting quarterback Trenton Tallman injured, Haynes came in from the bullpen to lead Williamstown to a come-from-behind win.
The Silver Knights will be looking to establish themselves as a perennial playoff favorite under head coach Ryan Walton. It’s one thing to make postseason trips, but another to make them into a habit.
This game will air locally on WXCR FM (92.3 FM) and online at www.wxcr.com.
Symmes Valley, Ohio (0-0) at Paden City (0-0)
Paden City opens its season with three home games, and after a thrilling win against Symmes Valley in last year’s opener, optimism is strong for a good start for the Wildcats. There’s depth in the Paden City backfield, and with low numbers yet again, the Wildcats will need to stay healthy to compete in 2017.
Ravenswood (0-0) at Wahama (0-0) (7:30 Friday)
This matchup is one of just two games on Wahama’s schedule against a West Virginia school – with the season finale against Buffalo serving as the other.
The White Falcons are home for four of their first six games, so a win Friday could be the springboard for a strong start.
After this matchup, Ravenswood has a hearty Little Kanawha Conference schedule against playoff favorites like St. Marys, Williamstown and Tyler Consolidated. If Kemp Kelly’s squad can establish a running game early against the White Falcons, good things should follow for Ravenswood.
Other Games:
Wirt County (0-0) at Calhoun County (0-0)
Roane County (0-0) at South Point, Ohio (0-0)