— By Eric Little
A Class A regular season rematch will send the winner to Wheeling Island, while a Class AAA team takes its turn as David against West Virginia’s Goliath. The area is represented at both the small school and big school level in the semifinal round.
CLASS AAA
No. 4 Parkersburg South (11-1) at No. 1 Martinsburg (12-0)
When: Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
Last Week: Trailing at halftime for just the second time all season, Parkersburg South outscored Musselman 35-6 in the second half on its way to a 52-33 win over the Applemen. The win punched South’s ticket to the semifinals for the first time since their 2003 state championship campaign.
Martinsburg defeated Spring Mills 70-0 in their semifinal on Saturday to secure their state record 54th straight victory.
The Bulldogs have won both playoff games this postseason by a combined score of 154-0.
Why It’s Important: The winner moves on to play for a state championship while the loser knocks the dust off basketball shoes and singlets.
For Martinsburg, it’s an opportunity to extend its state record winning streak and earn a trip to the Super Six, where the Bulldogs would play for the chance to win their fourth straight championship and eighth title this decade. The Bulldogs have been playoff participants every year since 1997 — Dave Walker’s first season as head coach at Martinsburg High School.
For Parkersburg South, this game is a chance to take down the ultimate giant and prove worthy of playing for what would be their second state title in school history.
Who to Watch for Parkersburg South: One of the early ESPN 30 for 30 films was called “Winning Time.” It told the story of how Reggie Miller used to step up and dominate key, late-game moments in big games — often, against the New York Knicks. Last week, Brandon Penn borrowed a page from Reggie’s playbook and owned “winning time” against the Musselman Applemen.
Penn scored South’s last two touchdowns to stretch a five-point lead into a 19-point win – both in the game’s final two minutes.
First, Penn scampered 49 yards for his second rushing score of the game to put a buffer between the Patriots and the Applemen.
Then, Musselman’s last-ditch effort to rally ended when Penn intercepted a pass and returned it 78 yards for a touchdown to possibly provide his signature Kennedy Award-winning moment in what’s been a season full of big moments and big numbers for South’s signal-caller.
In addition to scoring both of South’s defensive touchdowns, Penn has a total of 44 offensive touchdowns this season (19 rushing, 25 passing). Penn’s nine interceptions account for roughly half of his team’s 19 picks. His 13 total takeaways on defense are just two fewer than the 15 total turnovers South has coughed up offensively this season as a team.
Penn has scored multiple touchdowns in all but two of South’s 12 games this season, and he’s scored four touchdowns or more in 8 of those 12.
It’s hard to find a stat to close this conversation with, because honestly, they’re all impressive every time you consider how truly spectacular he’s been this season for Nathan Tanner’s Patriots.
But South is hardly a one-man group.
The Patriots have been getting a good effort from their receiving corps this postseason. Levi Rice hauled in a 56-yard touchdown pass from Penn last week — the second straight week Rice has recorded a 50-plus yard touchdown pass play. Dylan Day has four catches in each of South’s two playoff wins, with a touchdown grab against South Charleston. He also enters this game 40 receiving yards shy of 1,000 this season.
Devin Gaines ran for two touchdowns this week to bring his season total to 22. Perhaps the most impressive thing about his season? He’s rushed for 1,349 yards and lost a total of just 13 yards all season. He’s a punishing rusher and just a tough guy to bring down.
Defensively, Jeffrey Tucker and Braxton Amos live in their opponent’s backfields. Amos recorded five tackles for loss against Musselman, while Tucker’s 11.5 sacks and 29.5 tackles for loss are both team-leading totals.
Jon Kinnaird’s 75 tackles are fifth-most on the team and his four forced fumbles have him tied for the team lead in the category. In short, this is a group that likes to hit and will do their best to bring physicality to Martinsburg this Saturday.
CLASS A
No. 5 Williamstown (10-2) at No. 1 Doddridge County (12-0)
When: Friday 7:30, p.m.
Last Week: Williamstown went on the road and scored 21 points in the first half on its way to a 34-22 win over Greenbrier West.
Doddridge County shook off an early East Hardy touchdown to rally for a 21-6 win over the Cougars. Doddridge County has held all but two of its 12 opponents to a touchdown or less this season — including Williamstown in Week 10 — shutting out five teams.
Williamstown’s quarterfinal took place on Friday night, while Doddridge County played Saturday afternoon, giving the Yellowjackets an extra day of rest headed into this game.
Why It’s Important: Obviously, the winner plays for a state championship next weekend.
For Williamstown, that path to a title could potentially give them the chance to avenge both 2019 losses, should the Yellowjackets win this week and meet Wheeling Central next Saturday. For head coach Terry Smith, it would mark his eighth trip to the Super Six, where his teams have twice won state titles.
Doddridge County is playing to reach the state championship round for the first time since 1978, when the Bulldogs lost to Duval. This is their third straight year in the playoffs under head coach Bobby Burnside, and their second straight in the semifinal round.
Who to Watch for Williamstown: Ty Moore is a man possessed this postseason for Williamstown. In two games, Moore has rushed for nearly 400 yards and has scored a total of five rushing touchdowns. He’s ably handled an increased workload after a mid-season injury to Jarrett Frazier.
Last week, quarterback Brayden Modesitt was able to involve Logan Richards. The two connected for a 19-yard touchdown strike to open Williamstown’s scoring. Later in the first half, Richards ran for a touchdown. That score was set up by a Modesitt interception on defense
Most impressive? Richards had just three total touches in the contest.
Modesitt has other targets in the passing game, like Eric Brown and Nick Bondi, and involved both in Williamstown’s loss to Doddridge County earlier this month.
But Modesitt’s biggest offensive issue in that earlier meeting with the Bulldogs was his three interceptions. That’ll need cleaned up if the Yellowjackets are to play for another state championship.