With the first two weeks of the 2018 high school football season now behind us, it is evident this season is going to be as predictable as the last several! And in that I mean, at least in Class AAA and Class AA, the teams that everyone thought were going to be the teams near the top, are indeed the teams near the top! However, in Class A it could be a season of different teams getting hot at different times of the year. Except just maybe for the one team at the top and that team being Wheeling Central Catholic! Last year after fighting all season long just to get into the playoffs as the #10 seed with a (6-4) record, the Maroon Knights knocked off their four playoff opponents by a combined score of 155 to 61 to end the year at (10-4) and in possession of their 10th overall state football championship…..(9 in Class A, 1 in Class AA)! With the large number of returning starters, it was obvious the Maroon Knights would once again be the team to beat in Class A in 2018! So far this season, Wheeling Central has not disappointed their many fans, having outscored Williamstown and Madonna 88-0! This week, the Maroon Knights will tackle another very good opponent as they host East Hardy (0-2).
In looking at the teams near the top in Class AAA, the highest ranked teams from last week’s MetroNews Power Rankings all were victorious, and the same can be said in Class AA. We did have a couple of games where ranked teams played each other and in those games, the highest ranked team proved to be the winner. In Class AAA, #4 Spring Valley defeated #10 Hurricane 27-3, while in Class AA #6 Mingo Central sneaked past #8 Wayne 29-24! Both the Miners and the Pioneers played very tough opponents in week #1 as Mingo Central lost at home to Point Pleasant by 7 and Wayne lost on the road at Class AAA power Spring Valley 49-8! I do believe the Wayne Pioneers are the best (0-2) team in the state and I know Head Coach Tom Harmon is looking forward to this being an off week so the Pioneers can work on preparing for the final eight games of the regular season.
So, what can we look forward to in week #3 of the high school football season? Well, we have 66 games scheduled for this weekend and some of the top games around the state include Spring Valley at Cabell Midland, Hurricane at Capital, Morgantown at Ft. Hill, Md., George Washington at Huntington, Parkersburg at Woodrow Wilson, Robert C. Byrd at Keyser, Grafton at Petersburg, Midland Trail at Meadow Bridge, Fayetteville at Richwood and East Hardy at Wheeling Central.
Speaking of the Parkersburg at Woodrow Wilson game, there is a huge opportunity for those in attendance at this game to meet some NFL Hall of Famers as the game as been selected by the NFL Hall of Fame to bring four Gold Jacket wearing members to Beckley this Friday! Included in the four will be West Virginia’s own Randy Moss and the day starts at the Beckley Raleigh County Convention Center where for two hours the Hall of Famers will meet and talk with students from all over Raleigh County. Then, at the game on Friday night at Beckley, everyone under the age of 18 will be admitted free, plus all students given a food voucher to use at the consession stands! Should be a great game and a wonderful atmosphere and the school is hoping for a packed house!
Don’t forget we will have all of the scores of all the games from week #3 plus highlights and interviews this Friday night on H. S. GAMENIGHT! Join Dave Jecklin and me from 9:30 to Midnight on a host of great radio stations around the state and check out the live audio and video of the show at www.wvmetronews.com!