By Eric Little – Seven Ranges Radio for WVMetroNews.com
A massive Class A showdown of unbeatens leads this week’s pack of games. Here’s the entire slate. All game dates/times listed:
South Harrison (7-0) at St. Marys (6-0) (Friday 7:30)
Everyone wants to put their best foot forward 100 percent of the time. But, from time to time, we all have those moments where someone catches us in a state that’s less than our best. That’s how the South Harrison Hawks find the St. Marys Blue Devils for this Week 9 face-off.
Ideally, St. Marys would rather not have starting running back Jaiden Smith on crutches. Or quarterback Eric Illar still recovering from a mid-season appendectomy. But those are the cards these Blue Devils have been dealt. How Jodi Mote’s squad responds to the adversity is what will determine whether or not this is another November to remember in Pleasants County.
The Blue Devils stumbled out of the gate last Friday against a Magnolia team that has its own multitude of issues to deal with. St. Marys led just 7-0 at the half and 14-0 after three quarters against a team that came into the game with a five-game losing streak. But St. Marys persevered and ran away with their 20th straight win by a 35-6 score over the Blue Eagles.
With Illar gone, St. Marys once again turned to Matt Eichorn at quarterback, and once again, Eichorn was the spark. He ran for 103 yards and three touchdowns for a Blue Devil team that was held to below 300 total yards. The Blue Devils also got a defensive score on an Antone Herring pick-six.
For St. Marys, they’ll likely need the defense and special teams to pick up the slack to make up for the offensive absences. The defense, in particular, will have its hands full with Brad Jett’s South Harrison Hawks, a team that’s scored more than 40 points in all but their first game this season and a team that’s topped 50 each of the last three weeks.
South Harrison destroyed a Sherman team 50-7 that had entered the MetroNews Power Rankings last week. But as impressive as those offensive numbers are (and honestly, they’re reminiscent of Ed Cromley’s Wahama teams from about six or seven years ago), don’t sleep on a defense that’s allowed just 50 points all year long.
St. Marys has a stout defense, but as much as Smith is missed on offense, he’s been very much a presence on defense as well. If St. Marys is to win, they may have to do it by grinding things out against a strong Hawks defense. If South Harrison can find running room through the decimated Blue Devil linebacking corps, they should be the team to stop the St. Marys win streak.
This game will air locally on Lite Rock 93R (93.9 FM) and online at www.literock93r.com.
Hurricane (4-3) at Parkersburg (4-3) (Friday 7:30)
Parkersburg saw its three-game win streak come to a violent halt in a 63-35 loss to Cabell Midland last Friday. The second quarter got away from the Big Reds. Cabell Midland outscored PHS 29-7 in the period to grow a one-touchdown lead into a commanding 42-14 advantage at the half. The Knights cruised to a win in a game they badly needed to have, entering the week at #15 in the SSAC rankings.
Parkersburg repeatedly failed to stop the Knights’ offense, allowing a whopping 681 yards – all but ten of which came on the ground. Two turnovers also gave the Knights opportunities to punch the ball into the end zone. For what it’s worth, PHS racked up 477 yards of total offense, most of which came through the passing game. But it all looked like window dressing in the second half.
So this week, in its second straight game against a team that badly needs to win, PHS welcomes Hurricane to town. They come in off back-to-back losses to Capital and Huntington. Time is running out for both teams to stake their respective claims this year.
Parkersburg will need to get their ground game going once again. The Big Reds ran for 157 yards last week and got three rushing scores from Tyler Moler, but many of those came late in the contest. If PHS can dictate the pace of the game, it’ll go a long way toward preventing this one to get out of hand the way last week’s game did.
Magnolia (2-6) at Tyler Consolidated (4-3) (Friday 7:00)
Tyler Consolidated officially has a winning streak, flying the “W” flag for the third straight week with a 48-14 win over the Tolsia Rebels. Mark Rucker ran for 189 yards and three touchdowns and caught another score on a pass from Griffin Phillips.
The Silver Knights also found Hunter Forrester, who proved he was “the man now, dog” with a touchdown catch, a touchdown run, and a 32-yard scoop-and-score touchdown.
This week, the Silver Knights face traditional rival Magnolia, who owned this series until recent struggles. Magnolia dropped their sixth straight in a 35-6 loss to St. Marys, but trailed by just seven points at the half and by 14 after three quarters.
However, the Blue Eagles got their only points in that game through an 88-yard kickoff return score from Brooks Parsons and were held to fewer than 60 yards of total offense against a banged-up bunch of Blue Devils.
If Tyler Consolidated can continue to find the things that have worked for them in the last few weeks – a heavy dose of Rucker and the running game, specifically – their running streak should hit four.
If it doesn’t, their playoff chances are in some trouble, especially with St. Marys looming in Week 11. This game can be heard on WXCR-FM (92.3 FM) and online at www.wxcr.com.
Greenbrier East (1-6) at Parkersburg South (2-5) (Friday 7:00)
In what was easily their best performance of the year, Parkersburg South scored the final 21 points of their 28-7 win against Brooke two weeks ago. Down 14-7 in the third quarter, the Bruins were driving for the tying score against a South defense without the top-three starters on the depth chart at cornerback.
But for a team that needed the “next man up” to come through like never before this season, freshman Devin Gaines did exactly that against Brooke. Gaines intercepted a pass in the end zone to kill Brooke’s potential game-tying drive and send several Patriots to their smartphones to Google “Wally Pipp.”
South would go on to add two late touchdowns to seal the win. Now, the Patriots come in against Greenbrier East well-rested and ready to return to action. In seven games, Greenbrier East has won just once and has reached double-digits on the scoreboard only three times. The Spartans come in off a four-game losing streak.
Keep an eye on this Patriots team. They looked dead in the water after a demoralizing 49-3 loss to Point Pleasant that dropped South to 1-5. But after a win against Brooke, and a chance to pick up another against the struggling Spartans, the Patriots face two HUGE tests as they finish up against Wheeling Park and Parkersburg. It may be a bit of a stretch, but hey, stranger things have happened.
This game can be heard locally on V96.9 FM and online at www.v969radio.net.
Roane County (0-7) at Ravenswood (4-3) (Friday 7:30)
Ravenswood became the latest team to fall victim to Doddridge County’s suffocating defense in a 20-3 loss to the Bulldogs last week. The Red Devils got a 21-yard field goal from Ryan Cunningham in the first quarter before Doddridge slammed the door shut. The Bulldogs have allowed just nine points since September 1st, so it’s not as if Ravenswood is the only team to hit the same stumbling block.
Nevertheless, the Red Devils will look for answers against a Roane County team that’s at least scoring points in recent losses. The Raiders scored 44 in a loss to Liberty (Harrison) and 30 in a setback to Lincoln. It’s too little, too late for a team that was shut out in three of their first four games and has allowed 26 points or more in all but their first game this season.
With St. Marys next week, and the Battle for the Hatchet against Class AAA Ripley in Week 11, the time is NOW for the Red Devils to win the games they’re favored to win. It’s officially GO-time for Ravenswood.
Miller, Ohio (6-2) at Wahama (3-5) (Friday 7:30)
After an 0-4 start to the season (including a double-overtime loss), Wahama has won three of its last four and is showing signs of life. Last week, the White Falcons knocked off South Gallia, Ohio 41-6 as Christian Thomas rushed for 245 yards and scored five touchdowns.
This week, Wahama will face a 6-2 Miller team that’s fighting for its playoff life.
With two sub-.500 teams left on their schedule, Miller must win out to get into the eight-team playoff field in Ohio Division VII, Region 27. They won’t get many points from either win, if they win out, so the margin of error is small for Miller.
Wahama will have its hands full against a team that has a lot on the line. Miller is currently in the sixth spot of Region 27 and with three teams behind them that hold the same record. On top of that, the Falcons’ only two losses come against teams with winning record and they’ve knocked off all the sub-.500 teams on their slate. But if Wahama can keep rolling, they’ll provide a stiff challenge for the Falcons.
Williamstown (4-4) at Parkersburg Catholic (0-6) (Saturday 7:00)
Williamstown’s path of destruction continued last week in a 46-8 win over Wirt County. The Yellowjackets have won three of their last four games and have topped 40 points in all three wins. Better yet, the defense is looking like a traditional Williamstown defense, allowing just 22 points in those three wins.
Parkersburg Catholic will be doing well to just show up, with a roster that hovers around a baker’s dozen and injuries that forced the cancellation of one game this year and put the remainder of their schedule in jeopardy.
This won’t be quite like a bye week for Williamstown, but it’ll be close, and with their actual bye week coming next week, the Yellowjackets starters should be well-rested before a Week 11 matchup with Tolsia and, with a little luck, a possible playoff run.
Other Games:
Calhoun County (0-8) at Webster County (6-1) (Friday 7:00)
Paden City (2-5) at Van (3-5) (Friday 7:30)
Wirt County (3-4) at Ritchie County (2-6) (Friday 7:00)
Bye:
Ripley (2-6)