Is there really any better time of the year? Let me answer that for you….NO!! August is winding down and that means this is the first week of High School Football games across the state! And, what a privilege it is to be back for another season of High School Sportsline on Wednesday nights and GAMENIGHT on Friday nights!
With the 2022 season getting ready to kickoff for some teams this Thursday night and for a lot more this Friday night, it is officially time to debate “which team will prove to be the last team standing when the season ends in early December in Wheeling”? Quite possibly, if you ask 100 high school fans across the state, you may just receive 100 different answers. And, that’s ok! That is certainly one of the things that makes high school football so very special in the great state!
If you go back to last year, your Class AAA Champion was Martinsburg as they defeated Huntington in the title game. In Class AA, Fairmont Senior was the last team standing as they knocked off Independence. And, in Class A, the last team standing was Ritchie County as they outlasted Williamstown on that Saturday night at Wheeling Island Stadium. In a few pre-season top ten’s I have seen around the state, the three reigning State Champions are the easy picks for a lot of voters and rightfully so. All three state champions from last year have a lot of talent returning and should once again be very good in 2022. However, all of that is just speculation right now…..the stuff get’s real beginning this Thursday night!
What are some of the games we will be watching this week? Well, I think it certainly begins with the MetroNews/WVSSAC Kick-off Classic this Thursday night as the Mohigans of Morgantown will make the long trip to the Kanawha Valley to take on the Black Eagles of South Charleston. Last year, in his 2nd season as the head coach at Morgantown, Sean Biser and his crew fought through a number of injuries to finish the regular season at (5-5) and the lost in the first round of the playoffs to a very talented bunch of Indians from Bridgeport! This season, the Mohigans are certainly more seasoned with Coach Biser’s offense and are poised to go farther than round one in the playoffs. Their opponent will sport a new scheme and a new head coach as former All-NFL pro Carl Lee has taken over for former head coach Donnie Mays who has moved on to the same position with the Hurricane Redskins. Certainly it has been a learning curve for the kids at South Charleston, but in my conversations with Coach Carl Lee, he is confident the Black Eagles will prove to be a formable foe for any team this year. One thing is for certain…..you can’t deny the credentials Coach Carl Lee brings to the South Charleston program. A graduate of South Charleston High School, Coach Lee starred in his days in the defensive backfield with the Thundering Herd of Marshall and then was drafted in the 7th round of the NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings. Lee was named to three NFL All Pro games and played 11 years with the Vikings. He also played one year in the NFL for the New Orleans Saints! After leaving the NFL, Carl Lee was named Head Coach of the WV State Yellow Jackets….so again, there is certainly no denying his credentials…..the man knows football! By the way, the MetroNews/WVSSAC Kick-off Classic can be heard on radio stations WCHS-AM 580 in Charleston and WAJR-AM 1440 Morgantown. The game can be watched on our website @wvmetronews.com! Some other games this Thursday night will find Washington @ Hedgesville, North Marion @ East Fairmont, Man @ Logan, Summers County @ Pikeview and Shady Spring @ Tug Valley.
On Friday night, you know, the day when those Friday Night Lights really shine brightly, some games of interest include Cabell Midland @ George Washington, Point Pleasant @ Greenbrier East, Salem, Va. @ Martinsburg, Huntington @ Spring Valley, Moorefield @ Frankfort, Bluefield @ Graham, Va., Scott @ Herbert Hoover, Clay County @ Midland Trail, Ritchie County @ Tyler Consolidated and Doddridge County @ South Harrison.
I have just mentioned a few games above that will be fun to watch this week, but in all honesty, ALL high school football games are fun to watch! That is why we all cheer for our favorite team and the great thing about that, win or lose, we will all still be cheering for our favorite team next week! High School Football – I love it and, I invite you to join Dave Jecklin and me this Friday night at 9:30 across this great state of WV for H. S. GAMENIGHT! We will begin our 21st season this Friday night and the show can be heard on 47 radio stations across the state and the live video and audio of the show can be found at our website……www.dev.wvmetronews.com!
Join us this Friday night!!