By Eric Little – Seven Ranges Radio for WVMetroNews.com
As is usual this time of year, we’re seeing some teams pull away from the pack, while others have work left to do over the season’s final five weeks to reach the playoffs. Others are beginning to sink to the bottom of the pool. Or they’ve already sunk. Here are this week’s games. All game dates/times listed:
Woodrow Wilson (1-4) at Parkersburg (3-2) (Friday 7:30)
I’m known among friends to be a fan of the intentionally corny joke. (Maybe you’ve seen it in this space, from time to time). Sometimes, when a lame joke falls flat, I’ll follow it up with, “You’re not laughing, maybe you didn’t hear me…” and then I’ll repeat my joke.
That applies here, except that the 2017 Parkersburg Big Reds are no joke…Mike Byus’s team is for real. But last week was definitely their “maybe you didn’t hear me” to the state of West Virginia.
After dismantling Marietta, Ohio two weeks ago, the Big Reds went to Wheeling Island and knocked off the Wheeling Park Patriots 43-36. As Jackie Gleason’s Buford T. Justice once said in Smokey and the Bandit, “THAT’S an attention grabber!”
There are so many impressive things about Parkersburg’s win last Friday. Let’s begin with the fact the Big Reds pitched a shutout in the second half on someone else’s home field. Then, how about Parkersburg scoring the final 29 points of the game to rally from a 36-14 deficit late in the second quarter? Or the fact PHS created four takeaways in the contest?
The Big Reds took advantage of Cross Wilkinson’s four interceptions to rally and did it with strong offensive efforts from their go-to men. Tyler Moller ran for 223 yards and three touchdowns. Kam Mace threw for two scores and 242 yards.
The next step for Parkersburg is a homecoming matchup against Woodrow Wilson. The Flying Eagles have largely had their wings clipped this season. Woodrow has scored their share of points this season, but they’ve not had the defense to win. The Flying Eagles have allowed more than 40 points in all five of their losses, while limiting one-win Greenbrier East to seven points in their only win of the year.
If the Big Reds can get the offensive efforts they got on Wheeling Island, limit the homecoming distractions, and finish the way they did against Park, another win should be in the making for a surging Parkersburg team.
St. Marys (4-0) at Calhoun County (0-6) (Friday 7:00)
It may not have been the tidiest effort of the season for St. Marys, but the locals will take a win over Williamstown any way they can get it. In front of a full house at Bill Hanlin Stadium and with a live television audience watching at home, the Blue Devils knocked off the Yellowjackets for the sixth straight year with a 34-17 win over their Little Kanawha Conference rival. St. Marys won only their second game since September 1st, despite three turnovers and 10 penalties.
Fighting the effects of an ankle injury suffered early in the contest, Jaiden Smith ran for 151 yards and two scores for St. Marys. Dylan Gray added a pair of touchdown runs while Dalton Houser caught two passes for 101 yards – including a 63-yard touchdown strike from quarterback Eric Illar.
The good news for Smith’s ankle is that he’ll not be needed this week. The Blue Devils will face a punchless Calhoun County team that has been shut out four times this season. Calhoun scored 22 of their 28 total points this season last week in a loss to Clay-Battelle. Adam Parsons threw for 246 yards and two scores for the Red Devils.
Smith is one of a handful of players that’s worth the price of admission. But don’t go expecting to see him this week, because it would be a mistake for St. Marys to use him against Calhoun County. This game can be heard locally on Lite Rock 93R (93.9 FM) and online at www.literock93r.com.
Ravenswood (3-2) at Wirt County (3-2) (Friday 7:30)
Here’s a matchup that isn’t quite a play-in game for the playoffs, but the winner will certainly gain a lot of valuable ground in the push for the postseason. Both teams have alternated between looking impressive and taking their lumps when you look at the wins and losses.
Wirt County became Doddridge County’s fourth straight shutout victim in a 38-0 loss last week to the Bulldogs. Maybe the Tigers are the only team of the four to have a winning record, but you can’t knock a defense that held Wirt County to two first downs and just 46 total – TOTAL – yards of offense. Impressive, indeed.
Ravenswood bounced back from a stinging defeat against Williamstown with a 39-6 win over Ritchie County last week. The Red Devils got more than 400 total yards of offense, with nearly 350 yards coming through the ground game. Max Hilton ran for a score and threw for another, while picking up 197 total offensive yards. Ravenswood also got a school-record 47-yard field goal from Ryan Cunningham.
Wirt County will be at home, but it’ll be hard to give the edge to a team that struggled so mightily on offense last week. Especially when they’ll face a team that clicked on all cylinders a week ago.
Tyler Consolidated (2-3) at Ritchie County (2-4) (Friday 7:00)
With a bye week that perfectly bisected Tyler Consolidated’s schedule, the Silver Knights are rested and ready for the uphill challenge that comes with the second half of their season. With games against Magnolia and St. Marys still to come, Tyler needs to take care of business in games they feel they should win. And although Ritchie County has improved, this is definitely a game Tyler feels they should win.
The Rebels have struggled to find an offensive identity in their last two games. After a humbling 61-0 loss to Doddridge County, Ritchie County went back to Opening Day starter Tatem McCloy at quarterback last week in a 39-6 loss to Ravenswood. This came after Gabe Ray started their previous two games under center. Ritchie County was held to fewer than 200 total yards of offense as Ravenswood ran away with the contest in the second half.
This might just come down to which two-win team is better prepared at this point of the season, and you’d be hard-pressed to say that’s anyone but Tyler Consolidated right now. This game can be heard locally on WXCR-FM (92.3 FM) and online at www.wxcr.com.
Buffalo (1-4) at Williamstown (2-4) (Friday 7:00)
Williamstown ran into a really good St. Marys team last week, so it’s not time for them to go back to the drawing board this week against Buffalo. But it’s definitely time for the Yellowjackets to rack up wins, for their postseason starts this week against the struggling Bison.
Williamstown quarterback Carter Haynes threw the ball 28 times last week, much more than Williamstown head coach Terry Smith prefers to throw the ball. Haynes connected for a touchdown pass as part of his 155-yard effort. Against the 1-4 Bison, expect Smith’s Yellowjackets to work on getting running back Donathan Taylor a little more involved in the offense.
Buffalo has been held to one touchdown or fewer in all but one of their five games this season and will provide just the potion Williamstown needs to heal the psyche of a defense that’s been hit pretty hard this year by some strong offensive clubs.
Parkersburg South (1-5) at Brooke (1-4) (Friday 7:30)
Point Pleasant came into the Erickson All-Sports Facility last week with a strong rushing attack, a 4-1 record, and a marching band with a Star Wars-themed field show that included lightsabers. Unfortunately for South, the force was with Point Pleasant from the opening kickoff all the way to the final whistle of a 49-3 drubbing.
Point Pleasant scored on four of their six drives in the first half. Two of their seven touchdowns came on drives with one big play from the Point offense, while two more came on drives aided by at least one 15-yard penalty.
Parkersburg South started Brandon Penn at quarterback for the first time this season as part of their ongoing search for a spark on offense. An injury pressed Brayden Mooney – the starter for South’s first five games this season – into action at quarterback in the second half. Mooney led South’s only scoring drive of the night.
This week, South hits the road to face a Brooke Bruins team that’s had offensive troubles of their own. Brooke has been held to a touchdown or less in three of their four losses this year, though the Bruins played close with University in most of Brooke’s second game of the season. The winner here might just be the team that can find a spark that leads to consistency on offense for the majority of the evening. This game can be heard locally on V96.9 FM and online at www.v969radio.net.
South Charleston (2-3) at Ripley (2-4) (Friday 7:30)
This game may be a play-in game for the playoffs. South Charleston still has Huntington and Capital left on their schedule. Ripley has lost four straight and needs to right the ship, pronto. With winless Class AA Roane County and 3-2 Class A Ravenswood left on their schedule, there aren’t a ton of opportunities left against the type of quality opponent that would get a 6-4 or a 5-5 Vikings team into the postseason.
At the very least, Ripley needs to win this one and both of their last two to get in to the playoffs. The Vikings took their lumps last week in a 49-7 loss to Huntington, but they’ve got the rushing attack to contend with almost anyone else in the state.
Their current four-game losing skid began with two losses by five points or fewer, so the Vikings have shown fight to this point in the season. Now, they’ll need to muster all they’ve got left in order to take down a perennial favorite in the region. A large, boisterous Death Valley crowd would certainly help matters for Ripley.
Other Games:
Parkersburg Catholic (0-4) at Weirton Madonna (5-0) (Thursday 7:00)
Clay-Battelle (4-1) at Paden City (1-4) (Friday 7:00)
Roane County (0-5) at Liberty Harrison (5-0) (Friday 7:00)
Wahama (1-5) at Eastern, Ohio (3-3) (Friday 7:30)