All three Boone County high school football teams are currently inside the top 16 of the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission ratings. Two of those three schools will see action this week and will look to improve their ranking while another school, Class AA No. 9 Scott, welcomes a much-needed bye week ahead of a crucial showdown next week at Class AA No. 15 Logan.
No. 17 Mount View (2-1) at No. 9 Sherman (4-1), 7:30 p.m. Zontini Field
Last Week: Mount View was idle; Sherman beat Ravenswood 26-20
Series History: Mount View leads 1-0-0. Last Meeting: Mount View 55, Sherman 28, Nov. 2, 2020.
Game notes: Two weeks ago the Tide suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of county rival Scott. Last week they held off a determined Ravenswood squad for a 26-20 victory. Sitting at 4-1 on the year, the Tide will look to pick up win number five Friday night against a speedy Mount View squad.
The Golden Knights enter the contest off a bye week. The Knights defeated Summers County 28-14 on Sept. 17. In that contest Mount View trailed 14-6 after three quarters of play before scoring 22 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Ryan Long was 12-for-15 for 150 yards and three touchdowns, all coming in the fourth quarter. Long’s favorite target, Tony Bailey hauled in nine receptions for 97 yards and two touchdowns.
A fifth victory won’t come easy for the Tide, but if they are to defeat the Golden Knights they will rely on the rushing duo of Colby Buzzard and CJ Winnell. The duo has combined to rush for 799 yards and eight touchdowns on the year. Buzzard leads the Tide with 450 yards on the ground while Winnell leads the team with five touchdowns. Buzzard and Winnell also are one-two in tackles with Winnell leading the way with 40 tackles and Buzzard with 34.
No. 14 Van (2-1) at No. 17 Montcalm (2-1), 7:30 p.m. Prudich Stadium
Last Week: Van beat River View 12-6; Montcalm was idle
Series History: Van leads 13-0-0. Last Meeting: Van 51, Montcalm 15, Oct. 2, 2020.
Game notes: Defense was the name of the game in Van’s 12-6 victory over River View last week. The Bulldogs held the Raiders to less than 100 yards, but was limited to 129 yards by the Raider defense. Brady Green, who rushed for 224 yards in a victory over PikeView on Sept. 3, was held to 12 yards on just four attempts. Quarterback Gunner Flores passed for 95 yards and once touchdown. Shaun Booth, who had a pick six in the fourth quarter to break a 6-all tie, had a touchdown reception in the victory.
Montcalm is in a rare position. The Generals are ranked 17th in the current West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission ratings. In its 27 years of football, the Generals have never qualified for the playoffs and have only won 53 games in its history. The Generals have only had two winning seasons and one of those came during the 2005 season when the Generals led by quarterback Adam Havens, who is the current head coach, finished 8-2 and missed the playoffs by one point when Tucker County defeated a Class AA opponent on the final week of the season to knock the Generals out of the Class A playoffs.
Van and Montcalm have met 13 times with the Bulldogs winning all 13 meetings, but if Van is to win for a 14th time, they must limit penalties that plagued them in a victory over River View where the Bulldogs were penalized 21 times for 200 yards.