State High School Football Playoffs: Week 2
CLASS AAA
FRIDAY NIGHT at 7:30 – No. 7 MARTINSBURG (9-2) @ No. 2 SOUTH CHARLESTON (10-1)
FRIDAY NIGHT at 7:30 – No. 13 UNIVERSITY (8-3) @ No. 5 FAIRMONT SENIOR (10-1)
SATURDAY AFTERNOON at1:30 – No. 9 RIPLEY @ No. 1 BROOKE (11-0)
SATURDAY AFTERNOON at1:30 – No. 6 GEORGE WASHINGTON @ No. 3 BRIDGEPORT (11-0)
CLASS AA
FRIDAY NIGHT at 7:30 – No. 6 BLUEFIELD (9-2) @ No. 3 SHERMAN (11-0)
FRIDAY NIGHT at 7:30 – No. 12 PIKEVIEW (8-3) @ No. 4 FRANKFORT (10-1)
SATURDAY AFTERNOON at 1:30 – No. 8 RAVENSWOOD ((9-2) @ No. 1 WAYNE (11-0)
SATURDAY AFTERNOON at 1:30 – No. 7 KEYSER (8-3) @ No. 2 MAGNOLIA (11-0)
CLASS A
FRIDAY NIGHT at 7:30 – No. 9 TUCKER COUNTY (9-2) @ No. 1 MADONNA (11-0)
FRIDAY NIGHT at 7:30 – No. 5 WHEELING CENTRAL (8-3) @ No. 4 WILLIAMSTOWN (9-2)
FRIDAY NIGHT at 7:30 – No. 7 FAYETTEVILLE (9-2) @ No. 2 MAN (10-1)
SATURDAY NIGHT at 7:30 – No. 6 WIRT COUNTY (9-2) @ No. 3 RICHWOOD (11-0)
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MID-OHIO VALLEY PREP REPORT: PLAYOFF WEEK 2
By Eric Little of WRRR/WXCR radio
All three Parkersburg schools – Parkersburg High, Parkersburg South and Parkersburg Catholic – fell just short of wins in last week’s first round. The Big Reds and Patriots were victimized by late scoring drives, while the Crusaders pulled to within five against Man but could do no more. Nevertheless, the Mid-Ohio Valley still has multiple postseason entries in round two:
Class A No. 5 Wheeling Central (8-3) at Class A No. 4 Williamstown (9-2), Friday at 7:30 p.m. – In a game that’s been talked about since the playoff brackets came out a week and a half ago, the Williamstown Yellowjackets will meet the Wheeling Central Catholic Maroon Knights in a highly-anticipated rematch of last year’s Class A semifinal game. The difference last year was a missed extra point and a missed field goal – both belonging to the Maroon Knights. Williamstown head coach Terry Smith said that his upperclassmen were important to keeping his team focused on the task at hand last week against Valley Fayette.
“I think that our seniors did a great job. They came to practice ready to go. I thought we had a good week of practice.” Smith said. “I think the kids know at Williamstown where the state championship goes through. It goes through Wheeling Central. Whether you win or lose ,you have to beat them if you want to be on top, and that’s the way it’s been for 10 years or so. I think the kids know what they need to do.”
Lane Knost was the offensive star a week ago for the Yellowjackets, hauling in four catches for 153 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Adam Kerns threw for 222 of his team’s 509 total yards of offense. Running back Joe Palm led his team with 84 yards on the ground and even though that may not seem like a large contribution, Smith knows that sometimes the numbers don’t fully show and account for Palm’s full contribution.
“Obviously we wouldn’t be where we’ve been the last few years without Joe.” Smith said. “He’s our punter, kicker, tailback, our linebacker, a senior captain – Joe does it all. I don’t know if he’s our most valuable player, but he’s one of them.”
Wheeling Central has won five of its last six games with last week’s win over Moorefield in the first round of the playoffs. As has been the case in recent years, the Maroon Knights have had trouble finding willing opponents, and Friday night’s game will be just the third game this season that Wheeling Central has played against an opponent from West Virginia. The Maroon Knights have built their schedule out of opponents from Ohio and Pennsylvania and even opened the year against a team from Canada. If there’s been any program that has risen to the task over the years of playing giant-killer to Wheeling Central, it’s Williamstown. And though these teams seem to meet often in the playoffs, this is the first time they’ve met as early as the quarterfinal round. The winner of this game plays the winner of Friday night’s Weirton Madonna-Tucker County contest next weekend in a game that very well may serve as the de facto state title game in Class A this year.
Class AAA No. 9 Ripley (9-2) at Class AAA No. 1 Brooke (11-0), Saturday at 1:30 p.m. – The Ripley Vikings survived a flurry of penalty flags last Saturday night at Nicholas County to earn a 21-14 win over the Grizzlies in a game that saw over 150 yards of penalty yardage between the two teams. The reward for Ripley is a tough contest this week against the state’s top-ranked team at the big school level. The Vikings utilize a balanced running attack where quarterback Scotty Ullom spreads the wealth in a run-oriented scheme for head coach Jimmy Frashier.
“The kids are very unselfish.” Frashier said. “You’ve got five or six kids that can run the football, and they don’t care who gets the credit.”
Frashier and his coaching staff are happy to be working for yet another week with a group of young men they respect. Frashier says that out of 46 players on his team, 40 have a grade point average of 3.0 or higher, while his team’s overall GPA is 3.4. The reward, according to Frashier, is just as great for the coaches as it is the players.
“We were telling the kids that the thing I’m thankful for is that we get to spend another week with them.” Frashier said. “That’s something that if you’re not in the playoffs, which we haven’t been, then you lose that. You don’t get to spend that extra week or two weeks with these young men, and they’re a great bunch. It’s a really good group of kids to be around.”
It’ll be a tall order ahead for the Vikings this week, despite the fact that their opponent – Brooke – struggled early last week in a 33-17 win against Princeton. The Bruins were playing without head coach Tom Bruney, who was suspended after his ejection in the final week of the regular season, and starting running back Ryan Lazear, who made only a brief appearance. Lazear is the cousin of West Virginia University linebacker Pat Lazear.
If anything can pull the Vikings closer to victory, it’ll be team unity. According to Frashier, his young men came together before the season to set goals. Although only two of the three goals have come true to this point, the Vikings head man remains satisfied nonetheless.
“Their number one goal was to be a team,” Frashier said. “Number two was to win all home games, and number three was to make the playoffs.”
The winner faces the winner of Saturday night’s University-Fairmont Senior clash in the state semifinals next week.
Class AA No. 8 Ravenswood (9-2) at Class AA No. 1 Wayne (11-0), Saturday at 1:30 p.m. – Despite injuries in the running game – most notably to quarterback Cole Starcher – the Ravenswood Red Devils moved on to the second round after last Saturday’s 24-14 win over James Monroe. Starcher left Ravenswood’s regular season finale in the third quarter due to injury, and for the Red Devils signal-caller, it’s a good thing he played against the Mavericks on Saturday. His 98-yard touchdown pass play to Bobby Rymer (who, ironically, is Starcher’s backup at quarterback) broke open a 14-all tie in the third quarter and propelled the Red Devils to victory. Head coach Dick Sturm knows that with the win, he’s now got another week to get Starcher back to full strength.
“I think we’re on the mend. We played our quarterback (Starcher), and he was probably about 75-80 percent efficiency.” Sturm said. “We tried to protect him, just let him run our offense and throw the ball. He got flushed out of the pocket a couple times and picked up a crucial first down, but I think he’s on the mend. He’s coming around.”
Sturm knows that his finesse running attack provides a contrast from what he’ll see on Saturday out of the Pioneers. Tom Harmon’s ballclub again comes in undefeated and as the top-ranked Class AA team in the state. He also knows Wayne will line up and come right at his Red Devils, and as a result, Sturm expects a physical contest on Saturday. His team is very mindful and respectful of what Wayne has accomplished over the years.
“Coach Harmon does a great job down there; they’ve got a great program.” Sturm said. “It’s to the point where he’s consistently a competitor each year in AA.”
The winner of this game meets the winner of Friday night’s Frankfort-Pikeview game for the right to advance to the Super Six.
Class A No. 6 Wirt County at Class A No. 3 Richwood (11-0), Saturday at 7:30 p.m. – If it’s been 15 years since your last playoff appearance – and it has for Wirt County – then you’d better make sure you get your money’s worth. That’s exactly what Jason Hickman’s Tigers are doing, earning a second-round game after last Saturday’s 34-12 win over Iaeger. Thanks to quarterback Jake Hutchinson’s 207 passing yards and three touchdowns, as well as a stifling defense that pestered the Cubs all night long, Wirt County emerged victorious in last Saturday’s opening round. Hickman points to execution offensively and defensively as his team’s biggest key to a round one victory.
“I think we executed on both sides of the ball. Defense played well, (Iaeger) had a couple very good backs that run really hard. We pretty much took care of them.” Hickman said. “Offensively, our receivers played well and made a couple great catchers and our quarterback (Hutchinson) threw the ball well.”
Oddly enough, this isn’t the first time the 2009 Tigers have seen their second round opponent. In August, the Tigers scrimmaged the Richwood Lumberjacks and as a result, Hickman knows a little more than usual about his opponent this week.
“I think they’ve got some pretty talented kids.” Hickman said. “The quarterback’s pretty good, they’ve got a real quick running back, so it’s definitely going to present some challenges this week.”
Though he knows his own team is playing with confidence, Hickman realizes that the same could be said for the Lumberjacks after they continued their first undefeated season in over 50 years with an opening round win against Pendleton County.
“I think our kids the last few weeks are really starting to play well and come into their own. Obviously the confidence level is through the roof right now, but Richwood’s the same way.” Hickman said. “Richwood’s 11-0, and back in August, we had no idea we’d be meeting again now. Obviously we were both trying to find ourselves so definitely it’ll be an interesting match-up this week.”
Though it took the Tigers so long to finally get into the postseason, Hickman now knows that the thing to avoid is the “one-and-done” syndrome. That motivation can fuel a hard-hitting, high-flying team like the Wirt County Tigers.
“We’ve finally got in, now we don’t want to just be a one-hit wonder.” Hickman said. “We want to try to keep this thing rolling and keep the program moving in the right direction.”
The winner of this contest faces the Man-Fayetteville winner in one of next weekend’s two Class A state semifinals.
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| WFSP-FM | KINGWOOD | 107.7 |
| WVOW-FM | LOGAN | 101.9 |
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| WVLY-AM | WHEELING | 1370 |
Southwestern W.Va. Prep Report: Playoff Week 2
By Chris Lawrence of WCHS-AM radio
The second round of the Class AAA playoffs finds familiar foes for the two teams left standing from the Kanawha Valley in the postseason.
Class AAA No. 7 Martinsburg (9-2) vs. Class AAA No. 2 South Charleston (10-1) Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Laidley Field – South Charleston coach John Messenger believes his team was fortunate to have survived it match-up to the Bulldogs at Laidley Field a year ago in the postseason.
"They're pretty much the same team they brought down here last year," said Messenger. "That quarterback, (Kam) Puller, has just had another year to grow up, and he's doing some great things on the field. He's makes good decisions, he's great in the open field, he's not afraid to pull the ball down and run."
Messenger also expressed fears about the potential damage David Hammond poses to the Black Eagle defense.
"It doesn't matter if they line him up out wide, make him a wing, throw him in the slot, somewhere, somehow they're going to get him the ball 75 percent of the time," noted Messenger.
There are three more key concerns for Messenger, as he prepares a game plan for Friday night's contest. He believes the battle on the front lines will be the key to the contest. He's particularly intrigued by the match-up over the ball. Martinsburg boasts center Jordan Domenico at 6-foot-3 300 pounds against South Charleston’s all-state nose guard Blake Brooke.
"That's going to be a war, and we need to win that battle at the line of scrimmage to be successful," Messenger said.
Messenger's second concern is the running game. He worries the run was never established against Lewis County a week ago in a game where the Black Eagles were on top in quick fashion. Messenger's final concern is special teams, which nearly cost them the game against the Bulldogs a year ago.
"It did, and that was my fault. I take total responsibility for that," he said. "This year, I've taken extra time and study to prepare the guys for that. I think we have that situation corrected."
Martinsburg, unlike many of South Charleston's opponents, is battle-tested against out-of-state schools with significant talent. The Bulldogs’ only losses were to schools from Maryland and Virginia.
The game can be heard in Charleston on 58-WCHS radio and online at www.58wchs.com
Class AAA No. 6 George Washington (9-2) at Class AAA No. 3 Bridgeport (11-0), Saturday at 1:30 p.m. – The second round match-up for the Patriots mirrors the match-up of 2008 with the change being this one is on the road rather than in the confines of Laidley Field.
GW coach Steve Edwards, Jr., says the scheme from a year ago has changed very little for the Indians. Bridgeport runs the stick-I formation and is content to play ball-control offense, limiting opponent’s offensive possessions. Edwards knows when his team has the ball this week, it will need to take advantage of every opportunity.
"They're the masters of the long-drive," said Edwards. "Their big, strong, they have nice speed, and they are so well coached, everything they do is perfect.
"We'll have our hands full, and defensively we're going to have to stop them. Offensively, like you say, when we get our hands on the football, we have to put points on the board."
Edwards feels confident in his personnel who have grown from the first week of the season. The ball carrying duties have been put in the hands of Felix Mollette, who continues to put up impressive numbers.
"He's a real good competitor and doesn't get the respect he deserves," said Edwards. "We used the pass to set up our run a little bit this past week (in a 49-21 first-round playoff win over Capital). I think that really helped him."
Through the air, Nick Britton continues to find a target rich environment. DeShawn Badger, Eric Alouise, and Cody Clay continue to improve and are filling a void created with the loss of the Patriots' top receiver Shaquille Williams. Williams went down with a knee injury and is done for the season.
"We have a saying around here, 'Next man in,' " said Edwards. “You never want to lose a kid, especially somebody like Shaq who's such a big part of our program, but those other kids are getting their opportunity to shine."
Edwards is very pleased with the play of his defensive play after holding Capital's offense and standout runner Keion Wright in check.
"That's been real encouraging for me and the coaching staff. I think our kids have improved in many aspects," said Edwards. "Only time will tell if we've improved enough."
Saturday’s winner will go on to face the Martinsburg-South Charleston winner in next week’s semifinals.
This Saturday’s game can be heard on the radio in the Charleston area on 58-WCHS and online at www.58wchs.com.
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NORTHERN PANHANDLE PREP REPORT: PLAYOFF WEEK 2
By John Simonson of WWVA radio
Class AAA No. 7 Martinsburg (9-2) at Class AAA No. 2 South Charleston (10-1) on Friday Nat 7:30 p.m. – The Martinsburg Bulldogs battled the Morgantown Mohigans last Friday Night in the first round of the playoffs in a match-up of the two winningest programs in Class AAA in the past 10 years. Martinsburg was able to put together a great defensive game plan led by 6-foot-6 240-pound defensive end Kirk Hairston, who had a sack and two fumble recoveries. The Bulldog offense used some trickery to set up one of its scores in the first half, as quarterback Alex Schonhans skipped a lateral across the turf to wide reciever Brandon Ashenfelter, who then tossed a perfect pass to Donell Ferguson for 44 yards. Kam Puller then finished off the drive with a two-yard pass to Kendell Redmen, and Martinsburg led 7-6 at the half. In the second half, Martinsburg got two field goals from Andrew Dopson from 22 and 27 yards out and a 69-yard pass from Schonhans to David Hammond, as Martinsburg held on to defeat Morgantown 19-13. This week the Martinsburg Bulldogs will travel to the Capital City to face a team that they should be very familiar with, as the opponent will be the defending Class AAA state champs the South Charleston Black Eagles. SCHS had no problem in defeating Lewis County 45-18 last Saturday in its first round game. This will be the third time in four years that these two teams will meet in the second round. In 2006, Martinsburg defeated South Charleston 13-2 and then last year South Charleston won 28-21. This could be a battle between two good quarterbacks, as Martinsburg's Kam Puller has rushed for 879 yards and thrown for 846 yards on the season. South Charleston quarterback Tyler Harris has rushed for 686 and has thrown for 1,654 yards and has accounted for 33 touchdowns – 20 of them through the air. He has thrown only five interceptions. Both defenses will be tested in this match-up of two good Class AAA programs. The winner of this game will move on to the Class AAA semifinals against either George Washington or Bridgeport.
Class AA No. 7 Keyser (8-3) at Class AA No. 2 Magnolia (11-0) on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. – The Keyser Golden Tornado won their first round match-up over Point Pleasant 29-6. The Keyser defense was able to contain Point Pleasant’s duo of Nathan and Eric Roberts, who had 23 combined touchdowns this season. This week Keyser makes the trip to New Martinsville to face a Magnolia squad that is 11-0 and is coming off a 57-8 victory over Roane County in its playoff opener. Magnolia is trying to make a return trip to Wheeling, as it lost to Grafton in the title game a year ago. This season Magnolia has outscored its opposition 421-59. The closest game this year was a 14-12 win over Williamstown in week two. The winner of this game will battle the Bluefield/Sherman winner next week in the semifinals.
Class AA No. 12 Pikeview (8-3) at Class AA No. 4 Frankfort (10-1) on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. – The Frankfort Falcons defeated Herbert Hoover Huskies last week 42-16 to advance to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2002. Frankfort outgained Herbert Hoover 511 yards to 154 yards in the game. Frankfort quarterback James Jones went 8-for-10 passing for 135 yards and added 74 rushing yards to lead the Falcons. The Pikeview Panthers are making the most out of their first playoff appearance since 1996, as they pulled an upset last week over No. 5 Westside 34-21. In the game, the Panther defense held Kennedy Award candidate Travis Whitten to just 97 yards on 18 carries, his lowest output of the season. After trailing 21-14 at the half, Pikeview's Josh Neal returned the second half kickoff 92 yards to spark a rally that saw Pikeview outscore Westside 20-0. The winner of this game will move on to play the winner of the Wayne/Ravenswood game in the semifinal round.
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