As we traverse through 2020, everywhere we look, something new and very different is happening in just about every walk of life, and I am very certain it’s not always good and well received! This calendar year of 2020 has been one we would all at times like to forget, however we still have over three glorious months to get through!
As we get set to enter week #4 of the high school football season, which if not for Covid 19, would be week #5, we find ourselves looking at something else that is different as we have a brand new #1 high school football team in all three classes! And while in Class AA and Class A that might not be a major surprise, but in Class AAA it’s almost unheard of! In fact, the last time we had someone other than Martinsburg #1 in Class AAA football was November 24, 2017! That’s when the undefeated and top ranked Huntington Highlanders went into their Class AAA semi-final playoff game against #4 Spring Valley. And, when they turned off the lights at Bob Sang Stadium on that Friday night, the Highlanders had seen their undefeated season come to an end by a final score of 10-7. The following weekend, #4 Spring Valley would meet up with undefeated and then #2 Martinsburg and the Bulldogs would prevail in that title game by a final score of 44-16! Martinsburg would finish 14-0 in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, and those 56 straight wins, coupled with winning their first game of 2020, gave the Bulldogs the nation’s 2nd longest winning streak! Aw, but here comes 2020 and that 57 game winning streak is no more because last Friday night at Coburn Field in Martinsburg, the Bulldogs fell to the Spring Valley Timber Wolves by a final of 22-20! So, when the MetroNews Power Rankings were released yesterday evening, those same Timber Wolves were rightly slotted in that top spot. For Martinsburg, they did not fall far…..they are now #2 and have absolutely nothing to hang their heads about! It was indeed a hard fought game and simply put, this past Friday night, the better team won. But, as mentioned above, Class AAA is not the only place you will find a new #1 team this week! The same holds true in Class AA and in Class A. In the Class AA rankings, your new #1 is Oak Glen and the Golden Bears are off to another great start as they set (3-0) after a 55-46 shootout win last Friday night over previously undefeated Class AAA John Marshall! In Class A, your new #1 is Doddridge County and like their counterpart in AA, the Bulldogs are (3-0) after defeating Class AAA Lincoln County last Friday night by a final of 31-0!
So, what does this week look like for our three new #1’s? In Class AAA, Spring Valley has a bye week before facing Huntington at the Wolves Den on Friday, October 2nd. In Class AA, Oak Glen also has a bye before travelling to Wheeling Island Stadium Friday, October 2nd to battle Class AAA Wheeling Park! The only “new” #1 in action this week is Doddridge County from Class A, as the Bulldogs will travel to Ellenboro this Friday night to battle the Rebels of Ritchie County at Chuck Schofield Memorial Stadium!
Some good news to pass along….. Monongalia County is getting ever so close to putting on the pads and getting ready to start their 2020 high school football season. When the latest Covid map was revealed this past Saturday evening, Monongalia County was in the Orange, which means games will hopefully be played before long!
Don’t forget H. S. GAMENIGHT will come your way this Friday night from 9:30 to Midnight and I’m inviting you to join Dave Jecklin and me for this season’s week #5 of the show – we will have all the scores of all the games played this week and the show can be found on many radio stations all across the state, plus the live audio and video at wvmetronews.com!