(High School Sportsline broadcast – Sept. 9)
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Hurricane posted a quality win in week one with a 21-9 triumph at Huntington. The Redskins however will not get an immediate opportunity to build off that momentum. Putnam County schools entered this week in the orange category on the state COVID protocols map, meaning their teams can practice but not play.
“When you step between the lines, you kind of leave all your worries behind,” said Hurricane head coach Jeremy Taylor. “For 48 minutes, we were able to do that. What was sad though, as soon as you walked off the field, you knew we were in trouble.
“The way the testing is going and the way the metric stands today, I don’t see how we are going to finish the season. Right now, I am trying to get my seniors as much film as I can get them for college opportunities.”
Hurricane is hopeful they can visit Poca Monday at 6 p.m. if Putnam County falls back into the yellow category.
The Dots are in a similar position. They won at Wheeling Central Catholic Saturday afternoon 34-6, but had their home opener vs. Greenbrier East wiped out.
“Our practices have been pretty intense this week,” said Poca head coach Seth Ramsey. “Everybody has been on task well. The last two days especially, we have had a couple good days of practice.”
Much like Taylor, Ramsey believes coaches must take advantage of every opportunity to play in a compressed season.
“If you truly have the best interests of the kids in mind, you are going to do everything you can to be able to get games in for them and to let them play. Now more than ever, people are a lot more flexible.
“You’ve got a field and officials, we’ll play, baby.”
Similar styles among Harrison County rivals
On the west end of Clarksburg, A.J. Harman has built a successful program around a strong ground game. In his seventh season leading his alma mater, Harman has posted a 42-23 record and has led the Mountaineers to playoff appearances in three of the last four seasons. Liberty defeated South Harrison 38-0 in week one.
“Our kids just want to win,” Harman said. “We have been really fortunate and blessed that they have really bought into the program. They work hard. We have good kids that will do anything we ask them to do and to the best of their ability. We are a little bit of a rural school. We hang our hat on being tough and being physical. That is the style that so far we have had some success with.”
The Mountaineers will make the short trip to Wayne Jamison Field Friday to face 2019 Class AA state champion Bridgeport. The Indians had their season opener at Morgantown canceled less than five hours before kickoff.
“They know us and they know how we play football,” said Bridgeport head coach John Cole. “Coach Harman, nothing needs to be said about the job he has done at Liberty High School. He runs a good program and works hard. His kids come right at you. The biggest thing that scares me is they have played a football game. And we haven’t.”
Game on! (finally) for Britt Sherman and the Bulldogs
After a one-week delay, new Martinsburg head coach Britt Sherman will make his debut leading the Bulldogs against rival Musselman at the newly-named Cobourn Field & David M. Walker Stadium. The ‘Dogs have won 56 consecutive games and no in-state opponent has played within ten points of them since 2015.
“They are tired of seeing each other,” Sherman said. “They want to see an opponent and they want to get back out there and do the things they do on the field. Those guys enjoy the game of football.”
Cameron, Madonna and Williamstown impressive in Class A openers
Tim Brown’s second season leading the Cameron Dragons opened with a 60-6 win over Hundred last week. CHS went 7-4 last fall, advancing to the Class A playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.
“When you’ve got those five guys up front that are back, that includes three seniors with Deacan Carmichael, Connor Howard and Jason Neehouse, those guys started all year last year,” Brown said. “So they are a little bigger, a little strong and a little faster. Then you have Clayton Bryan and Gunnar Bryan and they started last year.”
In Dan Rovira’s first game as Madonna’s head coach, Santino Arlia tossed 6 touchdown passes and threw for over 400 yards as the Blue Dons defeated Madonna, 50-20.
“I am a defensive guy,” Rovira said. “I expected us to run the ball a little more. But he is a great quarterback. He threw for over two thousand yards last year. I thought watching film last year that we needed to run the ball a little more to keep people honest and take the pressure off him. People said I lied to them but I really didn’t. We wanted to run the ball but Wahama kept eight guys in the box so we had to throw.”
Chris Beck won his opener as Williamstown’s head coach as the Yellowjackets used a late scoring drive to defeat Marietta, Oh. 34-28.
“We ended the night with about 360 yards rushing,” Beck said. “So we did a really good job of controlling the line of scrimmage and limiting turnovers, which was always a little bit of a concern for us in week one. You never know exactly what kind of game one jitters you are going to have. Fortunately, our guys were pretty focused and disciplined. And we were able to get out of there with a win.”
#LetThemPlay gaining momentum
On Thursday, a handful of Charleston-area athletes raised their voices in a video circulating on social media, asking state officials to ‘Let Them Play”. Kanawha County went into the orange category on the state COVID protocols page on August 29. Although their teams have been able to practice, they have not yet been able to compete in games. Kanawha’s daily case average rose to 19.01 on Thursday, and it is unlikely to drop into the yellow by Saturday afternoon’s release. That release will set the schedule for next week. South Charleston’s Zeiqui Lawton and George Washington’s Michael Hughes are Division I recruits who appear in the video.
Hey @WVGovernor, #LetUsPlay #LetThemPlay #wvprepfb #wvsoccer #wvprepvb #wvprepgolf #wvprepxc https://t.co/et7vwk2DUb
— Black Eagles Football (@SCHSBlackEagles) September 10, 2020
Also on Saturday, a rally is planned in Morgantown. Monongalia County Schools are the lone county in red, bringing a halt to all practices and games. Clay-Battelle, Morgantown, Trinity and University all had their respective football season openers canceled last week within hours of kickoff.
