As we enter week #3 of the high school football season, we cannot ignore the fact that Covid is still playing a huge part in high school athletics across the state. And, even though this column is devoted mostly to high school football, I am fully aware of the fact that Covid is certainly entrenched in all other high school athletic programs. However, some interesting numbers from the football programs across the state show in week #1 of the 2021 high school football season, we had a total of 5 games cancelled/postponed because of Covid……..we played 55 games in week #1. While the total number of games affected by Covid in week #2 went up, we still played more games than we lost…..11 games were cancelled/postponed in week #2, while we played 51 games! With week #3 underway, we already have 4 games affected by the Covid virus and obviously a much greater number will be played! Bottom line is this…..while in the first two weeks of the 2021 high school football season we played a lot more games than we lost to Covid…..106 to 16…..the number we did not get to play is still way too many! I know a lot of people still have not taken the Covid vaccination and if you haven’t, I’m certain you have your reason as to why you haven’t and it is not my position to ask why not. I do know this….it has been proven if you get the vaccination, your chances of getting Covid are greatly reduced! Plus, Covid is real….people are still getting sick and people are still dying! For me, that alone was a good reason to get the vaccine. I didn’t do it with hopes of getting to have more football games on Friday nights; however, if that is an end result, I’m ok with that as well!
Now, onto week #3 and as always, we have some great games scheduled. In Class A, a rival game is set to go in Fayette County as the (1-0) Meadow Bridge Wildcats will travel to Hico to battle the (1-1) Midland Trail Patriots. Also in Class A, the Titans of Gilmer County will pay a visit to (2-0) Wirt County. In Class AA, it will be a battle in Marion County as North Marion (1-0) travels to East West Stadium to take on the (1-1) Polar Bears of Fairmont Senior. This will mark the 44th meeting between the two schools and even though the series is close with Fairmont Senior winning 25 of the previous 43 games, North Marion feels they have the team this year that could possibly give them their first win over the Polar Bears since 2003 when the Huskies won 27-21 in overtime. Also on the Class AA list of games for this weekend, Mingo Central (1-0) will travel to Mason County to take on the (1-1) Big Blacks of Point Pleasant. This game will mark only the 4th meeting between these two Class AA powers and Point Pleasant has won 2 of the previous 3 games. In Class AAA this weekend, the big game will be the Battle for the Shield as (2-0) Cabell Midland will travel from Ona to Huntington to take on the (2-0) Highlanders. Over the years, these two Class AAA powers have met 28 times with Cabell Midland winning 17, including 3 of the last 4. If you’re in the area of Bob Sang Stadium in Huntington this Friday night, this game is a must see! Also in Class AAA this Friday night, two teams will meet at Big Reds Stadium in Parkersburg and both are looking for the first win of the season. The Parkersburg Big Reds (0-2) will entertain the (0-2) Capital Cougars and trust me, both teams are much better than their records. This is certainly another game you should try and check out if you find yourself in the Parkersburg area Friday night.
Don’t forget this Friday night, GAMENIGHT will have all the scores and stats of all the games played and the program can be heard on 45 radio stations statewide and the audio and video is available at www.dev.wvmetronews.com! GAMENIGHT is live from 9:30p until midnight and I look forward to talking with you this Friday night!