3:06pm: Hotline with Dave Weekley

Some Very Important Games Among The 53 in Week #11!

And, away we go with week eleven and the final week of the 2022 WV High School Football regular season!  A total of just ten teams wrapped up the regular season last week and that means we have 52 games being played across the state this weekend in what will be the final regular season games for the 2022 school year!  Among those 52 games are several teams that need a win, either to make the playoffs or to afford themselves a better seed in the playoff field which begins one week from this Friday.

In Class AAA, projected #2 will battle #3 as Huntington (8-1) will travel to Putnam County to battle (8-1) Hurricane!  The Highlanders lost their only game of the season in week #1 when they dropped a 29-28 decision to Spring Valley.  The Redskins also lost their only game of the season to Spring Valley with that loss coming in week #4 by a final of 31-28!  A lot of bonus points are riding on this game.  Leading the way in Class AAA are the Patriots of Parkersburg South which should be #1 this week in the ranking and they have a long trip scheduled this Friday night when the young men from Wood County will make the 172 mile drive south on I-79 to Princeton to take on the 8th ranked Tigers of Princeton.  Head Coach Chris Pedigo and his Tiger ballclub sit at #8 after defeating Beckley, Bridgeport and Greenbrier East by a combined score of 46-18!  The Tigers only two losses this season came on the road to Lord Botetourt of Virginia and the Hurricane Redskins!  Two more games with playoff seeding implications will find projected #4 Martinsburg on the road this Saturday to Alexandria, Va. where they will battle the (1-8) Cardinals of Bishop Ireton and, the 7th ranked Patriots of George Washington traveling the WV Turnpike south to Beckley where they will meet up with the #14th ranked Woodrow Wilson Flying Eagles.  George Washington is currently (7-2) while Beckley checks in at (6-3).  In years past in Class AAA, we have been known to have a couple of teams with a (4-6) record make the playoffs.  Don’t look for that to happen this season, because going into week #11, we have 22 teams with 5 losses or less!

Coming up this weekend in Class AA, we have 23 teams still vying for a top 16 playoff berth and a few of those teams will be in action in week #11.  A big game worth watching this Friday night will find #11 Herbert Hoover (6-2) and winners of six in a row, traveling to Logan to take on the #14th ranked Wildcats.  Logan will come into the game with a (6-3) record but losers of 3 of the last 5 games.  Also on Friday night we have a big game in Mason County as the Big Blacks of Point Pleasant will entertain the 3rd ranked Generals of Winfield.  Winfield is coming off a huge win over previously unbeaten Scott and currently sit at (8-1) with their only loss coming in week #1 against Class AAA power Hurricane.  If Point Pleasant can get the upset, they would certainly jump into the top 16.  The Big Blacks are presently checking in at #17!  Also big in Class AA this year will be the rivalry game between East Fairmont and Fairmont Senior Friday night at East-West Stadium!  The Bees are currently ranked at #10 with a (7-2) record while the Polar Bears, because of their strength of schedule, check in at #9 with a (6-3) mark.

In Class A, two (7-2) ballclubs will square off against each other as #12 East Hardy will host #13 Petersburg.  While both teams seem to be safe in the playoff field of sixteen, there will be a lot of very solid ballclubs left out of that top 16.  Clay-Battelle is sitting with a (6-2) record, however, they are outside the top sixteen. They will need to beat (3-6) Hundred this Friday night and then probably need some help to get into the playoff field.  In Class A, we still have five undefeated teams, and 13 teams with 3 or fewer losses.

Comparing who is in this year with the teams that made it in 21?  Well, in Class AAA, right now 14 of the 16 teams that made the playoff field in 2021 would be back in 2022.  Only Greenbrier East and South Charleston will be on the outside looking in this season.  In Class AA, only 10 of the 16 from last year would be back if the playoffs began today.  Those not returning include Robert C. Byrd, Poca, Liberty-Raleigh, Shady Spring, Pt. Pleasant, and Grafton.  In Class A, is where we find the really drastic change!  Of the 16 teams who made last year’s playoff field, currently only 7 would be back!  The 9 teams missing out include Gilmer County, Moorefield, Ritchie County (who won it all last season), Clay-Battelle, Mount View, Sherman, Midland Trail, Trinity Christian, and Meadow Bridge!

As mentioned earlier, there will be 52 games played this weekend and we will have 51 of those scores on GAMENIGHT.  The only game we will miss this Friday night is Martinsburg @ Bishop Ireton, Va. and that is because the Bulldogs and the Cardinals play on Saturday!!  Be sure and join Dave Jecklin and me for all the scores and the playoff positions in all three classes on GAMENIGHT this Friday night from 9:30 til Midnight.  The show can be heard on 48 great radio stations around the state, plus we stream the live video and audio of the show @wvmetronews.com!

Talk with you Friday night!!

 





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