When the final horn sounded this past Saturday afternoon on the Martinsburg game, the 2022 regular season officially came to a close. And now, for 48 teams, the “second season” will get underway this weekend and heading into the playoffs all teams are (0-0)!
With the start of the 2022 playoff schedule, we have a bevy of new faces that have played their way into the second season. Of the 48 teams that made the playoffs last year, 32 teams return to try their luck again at making it to Wheeling Island the first weekend of December. And of the six teams that played for titles last season, five of the six are back, including two of the three state champions. The only team from last year’s Super Six not returning this year is the 2021 Class A State Champion Ritchie County, which finished this season at (5-5)! The sixteen new faces in this year’s field include Musselman and Hedgesville in Class AAA……Winfield, Clay County, Logan, East Fairmont, Chapmanville and Weir in Class AA and, Wahama, Tucker County, Van, Petersburg, South Harrison, St. Marys, Man and Tyler Consolidated in Class A!
The top seeded teams in each class this season include in Class AAA #1 Parkersburg South…..in Class AA #1 Winfield and in Class A #1 James Monroe. However, consider this….not a single #1 seed won titles in last year’s tournament. In case you have forgotten, in Class AAA #2 Martinsburg defeated #1 Huntington 62-21….In Class AA, #16 Fairmont Senior defeated #2 Independence 21-12 and in Class A, #4 Ritchie County defeated #6 Williamstown 42-21! So, being the top seed only guarantees home field advantage as long as you continue to win and if you make it to the Island, the top seed means a different colored uniform!
Looking ahead to this weekend, we have 17 of the 24 playoff games scheduled to kick at 7:30 Friday night….6 games will kick off at 1:30 Saturday Afternoon and 1 game…in AAA #11 Cabell Midland at #6 Bridgeport will kick off at 7:30 Saturday night.
Certainly when teams make it to the “second season” all games should be good, but guaranteed, all games are important. Two games in each class that should provide some excitement include in Class AAA, #12 Princeton (7-2) at #5 George Washington ((8-2) and #9 Wheeling Park (7-3) at #8 Musselman (7-3). In Class AA, #14 Weir (7-3) is at #3 Roane County (10-0) and #9 Herbert Hoover (7-2) at #8 Clay County (8-1). In Class A this weekend, look for these two games to bring a lot of excitement as #11 Doddridge County (8-2) is at #6 Van (10-0) and #13 St. Marys (8-2) plays at #4 Wahama (10-0).
Just a reminder, in addition to GAMENIGHT this Friday night from 9:30 til Midnight, you’re invited to join Dave Jecklin and me for the return of THE ROAD TO THE SUPER SIX, which begins this Sunday night, 7:00pm to 8:00pm and will continue each Sunday night until November 27th!
Looking forward to another great playoff season!!