That very special weekend in high school football is just about here…..the weekend when six high school footballs teams from around the state, who have survived a grueling regular season and three playoff games, will now have a chance at that elusive state championship. The job at hand is now simple…..win and you’re a state champion, lose and you finish as a state runner-up!
The first game in this year’s edition of the Super Six will be played this Friday night at 7pm on Wheeling Island and the game features #2 Independence matching up against the #9 seeded Huskies of Herbert Hoover. For Independence, Head Coach John Lilly’s team will arrive on the Island with a perfect 12-0 record and his Patriots have scored 646 points this season while allowing only 69!! Last season, Independence made it to the title game but bowed out to eventual State Champion Fairmont Senior, a team the Patriots defeated in the quarter-finals 42-7! The undefeated Patriots have relied on the running of Judah Price and the receiving of Cyrus Goodson this season and they seemed poised to grab their first ever state football championship! Their opponent is also vying for their first ever state title and in fact, the Huskies of Herbert Hoover are in the championship game for the first time ever in school history! Head Coach Joey Fields and the Huskies are the 9th seed in Class AA and they have made their way to Wheeling by knocking off #8 Clay County 63-26, #1 Winfield 27-26 and #5 Frankfort 17-10! The Herbert Hoover offense is centered around 6’4 Sophomore quarterback Dane Hatfield who has proven to be dangerous with his arm and his legs! This Class AA Championship game will kick off at 7pm this Friday night in Wheeling!
In Class AAA, for the first time in the last five years, and, only the second time in the last eleven years, the Martinsburg Bulldogs will not hit the field at high noon this Saturday for the big school’s title game! Replacing the Bulldogs is 2nd seeded Huntington who knocked off #3 seeded Martinsburg this past Saturday afternoon 28-21! The Huntington Highlanders will enter the contest this Saturday afternoon riding a 12 game winning streak as they lost their first game of the season to Spring Valley 29-28! Veteran Head Coach Billy Seals will lead his Highlanders into Wheeling relying on the solid play of senior quarterback Gavin Lochow and several speedsters in the backfield! The Highlanders, who lost to Martinsburg in last year’s state title game, are still looking for the first big school’s state football championship! The opponent for Huntington on Saturday will be the top seeded Patriots of Parkersburg South and Coach Nathan Tanner’s ballclub leads all six teams on the Island this weekend in scoring as the young men from Wood County have scored 683 points in 13 games, or an average of 52 points per game! But don’t be fooled by the offense of Parkersburg South because their defense is just a potent having allowed only an average of 21 points per game this season. In fact, in their Class AAA semi-final game, the Patriots disposed of high scoring Hurricane, the #4 seed, 58-27! Don’t expect the Class AAA game to be short on points scored!
The final game on Super Six weekend will feature the two Class A teams and one team is a solid veteran of appearances at the Island, the other has not been there since 2007! That team is the #1 seeded Mavericks of James Monroe who come into the contest with a perfect 13-0 record and defense has been the key all season long for Head Coach John Mustain and his Mavericks. In fact, the young men from Monroe County have given up just 81 points in 13 games, or an average of only 6 points per contest!! When James Monroe was last in Wheeling for the Super Six, they were a Class AA team and they lost in the title game 20-12 to the Bluefield Beavers. As mentioned, their opponent is Williamstown and the Yellow Jackets certainly know the way to Wheeling Island Stadium. This year will mark trip #11 to the title game for Williamstown and they have two Class A trophies in their trophy case. The Yellow Jackets won it all in 2008 and 2014 and finished as runners-up in 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2018 and last year in 2021 where they lost in the title game to Ritchie County! Head Coach Chris Beck is in his 3rd year as the head man at Williamstown and his offense is centered around exciting running back Ricky Allen!
So, if you are looking for an exciting weekend of outstanding high school championship football, Wheeling Island Stadium is the place to be this weekend. If you can’t make it to the games, the MetroNews Radio Network will carry the live broadcast of all three games!
Hope to see you in Wheeling!!!