Class A No. 1 South Harrison (7-0) at No. 3 St. Marys (6-0)
South Harrison beat Sherman 50-7 last week on senior night and it will now close the regular season against St. Marys, East Hardy and Liberty — teams that are a combined 21-0.
“We took it as a challenge last week given Sherman had only allowed 32 points all season,” said South Harrison coach Brad Jett. “We make our money up front with our seven guys offensively and defensively. We challenged our guys to get after it and they did.”
Next up on this murderers row stretch — defending Class A state champion and undefeated St. Marys.
“It’s only about an hour and 15 minute ride down there and that is one of our shorter trips,” Jett said. “Our fans will travel down there. Their fans are great and it really is a beautiful new stadium, so everyone is excited about this trip.
“It’s really going to be a fun game and hopefully everyone will get through it healthy because the playoffs are what is important,” Jett said. “I think both teams have a really good chance of going deep (into the playoffs). If we can get some of these wins down the stretch, we’ll be in good shape. The bonus points will be there and we’ll be seeded pretty high.”
Defending champ St. Marys has won 20 consecutive games and is 30-3 over the course of the last two-plus seasons. St. Marys has been facing a key portion of the schedule without running back Jaiden Smith who has been injured and quarterback Eric Illar who is recovering from an appendectomy.
Class AA No. 9 Keyser (5-2) at No. 5 Bridgeport (7-1)
Bridgeport had outscored its first seven opponents 193-14 in the first half of games. The Indians mustered just a 7-3 lead at the half against Elkins last week, but 195 pound tailback Jake Bowen managed to reel off two long scoring runs allowing the Indians to pull away and win 21-3. Bowen rushed for a career-high 197 yards last week in the Indians 21-3 victory over Elkins.
Keyser is unbeaten against West Virginia competition as it has lost games to Allegany and Fort Hill from Maryland.
Bridgeport has won four in a row in the series vs. Keyser including a 24-13 decision last season. Keyser beat Bridgeport twice during the 2012 season, 25-0 in the regular season and then 42-14 in the playoffs.
It will be a playoff-like atmosphere in Bridgeport Friday night.
“I enjoy it a lot,” said Keyser quarterback Brady Ours. “Playing at Wayne Jamison Field is such a great experience. It’s probably one of the most hostile environments I’ve every played in. I’m just hoping it goes different for us this year.”
Class AAA No. 14 Morgantown (4-4) at No. 7 John Marshall (6-2)
Morgantown’s playoff hopes took a hit as the Mohigans had a two game win streak snapped with a 28-27 overtime loss at home to Riverside last week. The Mohigans scored in the extra session as Alajuan Robinson raced in from 14-yards out.
Robinson would finish with 190 yards and three touchdowns. But Riverside won the game after scoring and then converting a two point conversion on a Mark Scites run.
The Mohigans have games remaining at 6-2 John Marshall and 8-0 University.
John Marshall has won five consecutive games following a 1-2 start to the season. The Monarchs were 2-8 a year ago.
“This year we are fortunate to have a great senior class and a good group of kids to blend in with them,” said John Marshall coach Rick Goodrich. “A lot of young players were forced in there last year and they’ve grown up. And when you have an athlete like Dereck Hess, it makes is a bit easier to call plays.”
Hess is the Monarchs offensive standout who has rushed for over 1,000 yards. He has touchdowns passing, rushing, receiving, punt returns, kickoff returns and on an interception.
“He is a difference maker,” Goodrich said of Hess. “We’ve tried to get the ball into his hands as many times as possible. He’s like a homerun hitter. Any time he touches the ball he has the chance to take it the distance.”
Both Morgantown and John Marshall are still in the hunt for at least a share of the Two Rivers Athletic Conference title. A Morgantown win in this game would allow the Mohigans to play University next week for the conference championship.
A John Marshall win over Morgantown and then a Mohigans victory over University would allow the Monarchs a share of first place in the league.
Class AAA No. 3 University (8-0) Preston (1-6)
The University defense has stood out of late and last week could have been the best performance of the season. In a 45-3 victory at Buckhannon-Upshur, the Hawks’ defense was responsible for 30 negative yardage plays.
“I give all the credit to coach (Eric) Snyder and the rest of the staff,” said University coach John Kelley. “We came up with a plan to deal with the triple option and we were able to take away the middle and make them go outside.
“We came out with two defensive touchdowns and that really set the tone,” said Kelley.
Defensive back Owen Zeiders returned an interception for a touchdown for the second time this season. Defensive lineman Ben Gribble then blocked a punt which was returned by Buddy Leach for a score.
“The other thing was that the energy was different,” Kelley said. “We were up and ready to go. We had a sluggish period following a tough stretch of games. Hopefully that is over and now we’ll gear up for the end of the regular season and the playoffs.”
Senior defensive linemen Hayden Starcher and Dalton McDaniels combined for 11 tackles for loss. Starcher, McDaniels, Will Gurtis, Gribble and Josh Ritchie all had hand in at least one sack.
The Hawks, for the season, have 113 tackles for loss including 23 sacks. Starcher leads the team with 6 1/2 sacks. The UHS defense has forced 19 turnovers.
University will play on the road at Preston this week prior to hosting cross town rival Morgantown in the annual MoHawk Bowl. The Hawks will be without senior running back/linebacker Trevor Barnhart and sophomore linebacker/fullback Logan Raber for this game as they hope to have both back for the end of the regular season or the playoffs.
Class AA No. 3 Fairmont Senior (7-1) at Grafton (3-4)
Fairmont Senior will prep for the playoffs with games against Grafton and East Fairmont coming down the stretch.
Senior Bryson Gilbert was spectacular early in a 51-8 win at Preston last week. Gilbert scored three first quarter touchdowns while adding two interceptions on defense. Gilbert would give way to quarterback Connor Neal who threw for 143 yards and a touchdown.
Grafton has lost three in a row following a 3-1 start to the season.
Class AA No. 12 North Marion (5-2) at No. 12 Braxton County (5-2)
The Huskies bounced back from a loss to Bridgeport by beating Lewis County 44-20 on homecoming last week. North Marion rushed for over 300 yards as 11 different players ran the football in the game.
The winner of this game Friday will take a huge step toward reaching the Class AA playoffs. Braxton County has earned back to back very important wins over Nicholas County and Grafton.
It’s a Braxton County team that has over achieved according to veteran head coach Billy Haddox.
“They’ve surprised me,” Haddox admitted. “I thought if we won two games we’d be doing pretty well. We don’t have many kids but these guys have played really hard. They listen to what we tell them.
“We’re not getting anybody hurt,” Haddox continued. “That’s been one of the biggest keys. And they are playing smarter this year.
Quarterback Heath Cottrill is the leader of the offense as he ran for two touchdowns and threw for a third during a 35-14 win over Grafton last week.
Philip Barbour (5-2) at Lewis County (1-7)
The Colts are enjoying a tremendous resurgence under first year head coach Russ Collett. Philip Barbour was coming off back to back winless seasons.
The Colts feature a run oriented offense that has scored over 100 points in the last three games. Chase Collier and Hunter Mason have combined for over 1,600 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns.
Philip Barbour has won three in a row and four of its last five.
Other games:
Buckhannon-Upshur at Brooke
Liberty Harrison at Robert C. Byrd
Elkins at Lincoln
East Fairmont at Oak Glen
Clay-Battelle at Conotton Valley (OH)
Hannan at Gilmer County