MetroNews will carry two of West Virginia’s premier Class A football programs for a live broadcast to start the 2023 season when Doddridge County plays host to St. Marys at Cline Stansberry Stadium.
The MetroNews SSAC Kickoff Game between the Bulldogs and Blue Devils will start at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, August 23, with the contest to air live in high definition on the MetroNews Channel at www.wvmetronews.com and on AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh.
“We’re very excited to have MetroNews back at our facility to broadcast one of our games,” Doddridge head coach Bobby Burnside said. “The last time we had MetroNews out was in 2019 on a Thursday night when we hosted Ritchie County and it was a huge crowd and successful event. To get statewide exposure from a professional organization is a very big deal. It’s exciting for our facility and players.”
The Bulldogs began playing at an on-campus and renovated Cline Stansberry Stadium to start the 2019 season and the facility is widely considered to be on a short list of the state’s top high school venues.
While St. Marys and Doddridge are both members of the Little Kanawha Conference, the 2023 season opener will mark the first regular season meeting between the two schools since 2013.
“Two small schools in what I think is the best small school conference in West Virginia,” Blue Devils’ head coach Jodi Mote said. “We have never played at their state-of-the-art facility. I have tremendous respect for them and their history and we’re so thankful to MetroNews for reaching out.”
The two teams last met in the 2017 playoffs when St. Marys, one year removed from a state championship, scored a victory over Doddridge en route to finishing Class A runner-up. The Blue Devils were also runner-up in 2014. SMHS was 7-4 and lost in the opening round of the playoffs a year ago.
Doddridge finished Class A runner-up in 2019 and is coming off a season in which it won 10 games and reached the semifinal round of the postseason.
“If you look over the last decade, both programs have been very good and made trips to Wheeling Island and consistent trips to the playoffs,” Burnside said. “Coach Mote’s had a storied career. It should be a good one.”