This is week #9 of the 2021 high school football season and with only three weeks remaining in the regular season campaign, there is still quite a lot of football left to be played.
And while it matters little how the playoff standings look entering week #9, it is still fun to take a little look ahead into what might happen! Right now, we have a total of 11 undefeated teams still remaining, while the number of teams still looking for win number one stands at 7!
So, with that said, let’s play a game of what if! If the Class AAA playoffs started this Friday, here are the matchups for round #1:
#1 Martinsburg would host #16 Lincoln County
#2 Huntington would host #15 Parkersburg South
#3 Jefferson would host #14 Brooke
#4 Princeton would host #13 Hurricane
#5 University would host #12 George Washington
#6 Cabell Midland would host #11 John Marshall
#7 Bridgeport would host #10 Greenbrier East
#8 South Charleston would host #9 Spring Valley
In Class AA in our game of “what ifs”, if the playoffs began this weekend, here are the matchups:
#1 Poca would host #16 Winfield
#2 Herbert Hoover would host #15 Keyser
#3 Point Pleasant would host #14 Logan
#4 Independence would host #13 Grafton
#5 Roane County would host #12 Robert C. Byrd
#6 Lincoln would host #11 Liberty Raleigh
#7 Nicholas County would host #10 Frankfort
#8 North Marion would host #9 Scott
In Class A, here are the scenarios:
#1 Cameron would host #16 River View
#2 Doddridge County would host #15 Clay Batttelle
#3 East Hardy would host #14 Greenbrier West
#4 Mt. View would host #13 Wheeling Central
#5 Moorefield would host #12 Trinity
#6 Williamstown would host #11 Sherman
#7 James Monroe would host #10 Madonna
#8 Ritchie County would host #9 Gilmer County
To continue our game of what if the playoffs began this weekend, what familiar names in each class would be on the outside of the top 16 looking in? Well in Class AAA, that list would include Morgantown, Musselman, Wheeling Park, Parkersburg and Capital! In Class AA, the list outside the top 16 would include Fairmont Senior, Bluefield, Oak Glen, Mingo Central and Chapmanville Regional. And, in Class A, the top 16 list would be missing Van, St. Marys, Man, Meadow Bridge, South Harrison, Midland Trail, Tug Valley and Magnolia!
Now certainly, all of the above is merely expectation and there are three very important weeks of regular season left to be played. Speaking of which, here are some important games on the week #9 calendar:
Jefferson (7-0) is at Martinsburg (8-0)……Bridgeport (6-0) travels to Princeton (5-0)….Huntington (8-0) is at South Charleston (5-2)……Fairmont Senior (3-3) will travel to Spring Valley (5-2)…..Moorefield (6-1) is at Keyser (3-3)…..Independence (6-0) is at Nicholas County (5-1)….Scott (5-2) will travel to Poca (6-0)……Liberty Harrison (4-3) is at Lincoln (5-1)….Roane County (6-1) is at Doddridge County (5-0) – Liberty Raleigh (4-2) will travel to James Monroe (5-1)…..and, Greenbrier West (5-2) will travel to Seth to take on the (5-2) Tide of Sherman!
So, as you can see, you have a lot of choices for some quality high school football this weekend. Get the family together and enjoy some great entertainment under those Friday Night Lights! And, don’t forget to join Dave Jecklin and me for GAMENIGHT, where we will have all the scores of all the games plus highlights, interviews and more!
Talk with you Friday night from 9:30 to midnight on over 40 great radio stations around the state and the streaming video and audio can be found at www.wvmetronews.com!
Note: All projected standings and matchups courtesty of www.tailgatecentral.com