It's not quite a "worst-to-first" story, but when the South Charleston Black Eagles take the field Friday night in Charleston against No. 16 Musselman, it will be the next step in erasing a black memory for the team's collective psyche. Last year, despite a wealth of talent, South Charleston finished a very disappointing 5-5. Coach John Messenger said it was a bitter pill to swallow and has served as a catalyst for this year's undefeated season.

"When we came into practice in August, they had been reminded since the last day of last year about how it felt to be 5-5 and the disappointment of what it brought to us," Messenger said following a practice this week at Laidley Field. "When it came out in a paper last year in a big ad congratulating all the Kanawha County teams that made the playoffs, and South Charleston's name wasn't in that, there was a bunch of broken hearts, including mine in that dressing room."

Instead of wallowing in misery, Messenger says his seniors, now the winningest class in the school's long history, decided to take action.

"These kids remember the frustration of that. They've worked hard, accomplished their goals and done what they set out to do," said Messenger. "These kids have climbed a mountain, but they realize they're not quite there yet. I think you're going to see them step it up through these playoffs."

That mission may never have been more clear than last Friday night when the Black Eagles trailed Bluefield in a game that would have no bearing on their standings or position in the playoffs. Messenger says the team felt like winning at Bluefield was finishing the job of a perfect regular season.

With that win, the 2008 Black Eagles are the first South Charleston team to finish 10-0 since World War II. A win Friday night would make this year's team the winningest in school history.

Elsewhere in the Kanawha Valley, Hurricane comes into the playoffs on a high note with a blowout win over Brooke in the season finale last Saturday afternoon at Redskins Stadium. However, that win followed three weeks of losses, begging the question which Hurricane team will show up at the University of Charleston Stadium Saturday to take on a powerful and speedy Capital squad.

"We lost two close ones, but I think the guys learned from it," said Hurricane Coach Willis May. "I"m real pleased with how they've come out and practiced. They have tried to get better every day and I feel like we have a good team going into the playoffs."

May knows the task at hand will be a tall one as he tries to match up with severe speed at the skill positions and a huge offensive and defensive lines.

"Team-speed wise, I don't think we match-up real well. As far as the fastest kid, we got him (Terrell Martin), that's obvous from the state track championship," said May. "I always say 'speed kills,' but hopefully playing good technique and strength from the weightroom will carry us. Control on the line of scrimmage both ways will be the key to the game."

Coach Jack Woolwine's Capital Cougars have been rolling since back on the last day of August when they dropped their opener to George Washington. Woolwine says it's been a matter of all of his players using their talents together.

"We're really pleased, we've had a really good group to work with," said Woolwine. "We've progressed each week because they've come out and worked hard and feel the need to progress each week."

Woolwine downplays the talent on his squad, but there's no denying the ability of Keion Wright and James Woods. He's also had steady improvement each week from quarterback Joe Beane, who's been a rock at the signal calling position. The Cougars have also been able to overpower teams with their imposing line play.

The Kanawha Valley's final entry into the SSAC playoffs for 2008 will be George Washington. The Patriots will host Preston Saturday night at Laidley Field. It was a year ago that the Patriots were in the same position as South Charleston this year. They had strung together 11 straight wins with solid team play but ran into a blistering attack from East Fairmont that abruptly ended what had been their most promising season in years. Coach Steve Edwards, Jr., says his team has quietly worked its way into the No. 2 position this year, and they aren't forgetting that second round loss last season.

"I'm hoping that's going to be a little bit of an advantage for us," said Edwards. "We came in last year with a two year absence in the playoffs, now we got something to look back on. They know how ‘final’ that final feeling can be for us to play 14 ballgames and fulfill our dreams."

Edwards says the G.W. gameplan against Preston doesn't change much.

"I'm going to ask my team the same thing I always ask,” explained Edwards. “I'm not going to ask you to play perfect, but I am going to ask you to play hard. If you play hard, sometimes that makes up for perfect."

Edwards says limiting the penalties, not turning over the ball and eliminating the big plays are what G.W. needs to do to advance to round two.