By Philip See for WVMetroNews.com
AAA No. 5 Spring Valley (3-1) at AAA No. 7 Hurricane (3-1)
After its bye week, Hurricane is entering a crucial portion of its 2017 schedule. In the first four weeks, it amassed wins over Winfield, Paintsville (Ky.), and Woodrow Wilson while dropping one contest to Cabell Midland.
Running back Christian Hill has been the catalyst on the ground to lead the Hurricane offense in its 3-1 start to the season. Hill has rushed for 639 yards on 111 carries and four touchdowns.
Quarterback Nathan Roy has put up similar numbers through the air, throwing for 635 yards while completing 62 percent of his passes. Roy also has also thrown for an impressive nine touchdowns while he has yet to be intercepted.
On the defensive side of the ball, J.T. Cooper, Payton Lunsford, and Cameron Kimble are all averaging more than 10 tackles per game. That trio has also combined for 18 tackles for loss on the season.
“Us all being back from last year has really helped us,” Lunsford said. “I know what J.T. (Cooper) can do and he knows what I can do. We feel like we know our defensive schemes really well and it’s paying off for us.”
Hurricane now begins a three week stretch of games that is arguably the toughest that any team in West Virginia will face this season. It begins with Spring Valley this week and then continues with Capital and Huntington. All three of those squads are currently ranked in the top-5 of the MetroNews Power Rankings. Fortunately for Hurricane, it will face all three of those tough opponents at home.
“Last year we were 4-0 going into this three-game stretch and we were pretty confident,” Lunsford said. “All of those games were away last year and now we get them at home – we think that will help us a lot.”
If Hurricane has its sights set on hosting a first round playoff game, the next three games will likely determine whether that will happen. This week, the Hurricane offense will get its biggest test against the defending AAA state runner-up.
The Spring Valley defense has allowed just 28 total points in its first four games of the season.
“They have a couple of D-I guys and are coming off of a state championship game run from last year,” Lunsford said. “They’re good, they’re a tough team. But I feel like we’re a pretty tough team, too. Hopefully we can come out of there with a win.”
AAA No. 1 University (5-0) at No. 11 St. Albans (3-2)
The St. Albans football season got off to a bit of a rough start. The Red Dragons dropped their opener at Parkersburg, rebounded with a victory over Nitro, then dropped another contest to Spring Valley to drop to 1-2 on the season.
Each of the last two weeks, St. Albans has shown great toughness to grind out a pair of close victories. The Red Dragons knocked off Ripley 37-34 in week 4 to even its record. Last week, they survived a sloppy contest and overcame a 17-0 halftime deficit against Riverside to come away with a 21-17 win. Running back Jayson Barrett rushed for two of the second half touchdowns and also sealed the game with a late interception.
After the consecutive victories, St. Albans, which has not made a playoff appearance since advancing to the 2007 AAA state championship game, finds itself ranked No. 11 in the most recent WVSSAC AAA playoff ratings.
The Red Dragons’ opponent, University, represents both a big challenge and a big opportunity. The Hawks have rolled out to an impressive 5-0 record at the season’s midway point, having narrowly knocked off Wheeling Park and Fairmont Senior in the last two weeks. University currently sits atop the AAA playoff ratings.
St. Albans has a difficult remaining schedule with some of the MSAC’s best still to come. If the homestanding Red Dragons can find a way to knock off University, they would take a major step towards returning to the playoffs for the first time in a decade.
AA No. 10 Sissonville (4-1) at Poca (2-3)
After suffering its first loss of the season against defending AA state champion Mingo Central, Sissonville regrouped with a win last week. The Indians withstood a great effort from Herbert Hoover to grind out a 14-7 victory. Quarterback Will Hackney continued his outstanding season by accounting for both touchdowns, one through the air and the other on the ground.
After a win to put the Mingo Central game behind them, the Indians now look to run off a similar regular season to last year when they finished 9-1, claimed second place in the Cardinal Conference, and grabbed a top-4 playoff seed.
When the season started, Sissonville probably did not see this week’s contest as much of an impediment along the way. Poca, of course, was still in the midst of its long losing streak, and the Dots were not able to put up much of a fight when these two teams met last year.
Poca has certainly proved itself to be much more of a threat this season after picking up a pair of victories, one of which came against a conference opponent. The Dots had their turn against Mingo Central last week, and now they, too, are looking to rebound and claim another victory.
Other Games:
Woodrow Wilson (1-4) at George Washington (2-3)
Sissonville (4-1) at Poca (2-3)
Chapmanville (3-2) at Herbert Hoover (1-4)
Logan (1-4) at Nitro (1-4)
Buffalo (1-3) at Tug Valley (4-1)