Week 6 of the prep football season is here.
After Week 5 saw most area teams on a bye, this week features a full slate including several matchups with heavy playoff implications.
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Greenbrier East (1-3) at Shady Spring (3-1)
Greenbrier East hasn’t won a game since a comeback victory at home against Riverside in Week 1. Shady Spring has run off three consecutive victories after dropping its opener at Roane County.
For both teams this matchup is a pivotal one. Greenbrier East’s margin for error is nonexistent after a slow start and Shady provides a heap of points with three wins. For Shady Spring in particular the matchup is important. It’s a litmus test against a fellow talented Class AAA team but also the only game on the Tigers’ schedule against a Class AAA opponent.
Shady features Nathan Easley who leads the area with six interceptions, a weapon against Greenbrier East’s talented passing attack.
The Spartans are led by QB Brody Hamric who’s sixth in the area with 616 yards passing to go along with eight touchdown passes to just two interceptions. He’s flanked by a capable running back in Brady May (65 yards per game) and two receivers (Grant Burdette and Nate Suttle) who have over 100 yards receiving each. May also has 127 yards receiving, rounding out the talented skill group.
Shady stayed afloat while starting QB Cal Culicerto missed two games as Myles Clark stepped in and went 2-0.
Culiceto is coming off an efficient 200-yard passing performance against PikeView last week and will be key in sustaining drives against East’s electric attack. Easley has also been the most productive receiver on the offensive side of the ball for Shady, catching 14 passes for 222 yards and a score on the season while Evan Romage has led the ground attack with 312 yards and five touchdowns in four games.
Princeton (5-0) at Winfield (3-2)
Likely the Class AAA matchup with the most eyes on it in Week 6, No. 3 Princeton puts it perfect record on the line when it travels to another likely playoff qualifier in No. 16 Winfield.
Princeton’s been on a rampage, having scored at least 40 points in all five games this year with three of those efforts seeing the Tigers cross the 60-point threshold. Quarterback Chance Barker became the first area passer to cross the 1,000-yard threshold and has 14 passing touchdowns to boot after his second four-passing touchdown performance of the season on Saturday.
Wide receiver Brad Mossor leads the area with 549 yards receiving and seven receiving touchdowns to go along with three return scores on special teams. But the Tigers aren’t one-dimensional.
Marquel Lowe has 488 yards and 10 rushing scores, averaging 10.4 yards per carry. He splits reps with Daniel Jennings, who has 227 yards rushing and five scores, averaging 11.9 yards per carry. All that to say the Tigers boast one of the state’s most explosive offenses.
Winfield’s offense in contrast has struggled to score against top tier opponents. The Generals have scored just 14 in each of their games against Class AAA No. 4 Herbert Hoover and Class AA No. 7 Wayne.
In response they’ll need to solve a Princeton defense that’s coming off a 10-sack performance against Tazewell. Jennings dominates on that side of the ball as well as he end Kalum Kiser have seven sacks each on the season.
For Princeton it’s an opportunity to display its strengths against a notable opponent and keep pace in a competitive race for home-field advantage through the playoffs. For Winfield it’s an opportunity to cash in on points and post a notable upset.
Independence (3-1) at Oak Hill (3-1)
Independence’s slate picks up again in Week 6 after an unintentional bye in Week 5.
With the damage from Hurricane Helene forcing the Patriots into a cancellation of their game against Bluefield they’ve had an opportunity to get healthier after an unintentional bye. Indy figured to be without a couple starting offensive linemen last week but were spared that task ahead of what should be a physical and challenging game against a Class AAA playoff team in Oak Hill.
Both teams have losses to top Class AAA teams, Oak Hill to Princeton and Independence to Herbert Hoover.
For Independence it’s an opportunity to cash in on triple-A points as it aims to secure homefield through the double-A playoffs. It’s also a litmus test. Independence survived a late rally against fellow Class AA contender Scott on Sept. 20, showing growth after failing to hold a 23-7 halftime lead against Hoover in Week 1.
This week’s test will be containing Oak Hill quarterback Devin Richardson.
In that Week 1 loss Independence struggled to contain Hoover QB Dane Hatfield who rushed for 130 yards and three touchdowns on 30 carries. Richardson, a scrambler, provides a similar test for Indy’s defense.
He has 260 yards and five touchdowns on the ground, good enough 15th in the area amongst the 20 teams that report statistics.
He’s fourth in the area in passing yards as well with 683 to go along with four touchdowns passes but is only completing passes at a 42 percent rate.
Independence’s offense is incredibly young with three freshmen starting along the offensive line, protecting another freshman in QB Brock Green. The most proven commodity is Sylas Nelson, the area’s leading rusher with 609 yards on 97 carries. His 152 yards per game are second in the area amongst rushers and because of that production he’ll likely be the focal point of Oak Hill head coach Davon Marion’s gameplan. Proficient at game-planning around a team’s best offensive weapon, expect Marion to force the freshman Green into beating him.
Midland Trail (2-3) at Nicholas County (2-2)
With both Midland Trial and Nicholas County in the new Class AA, this game carries more meaning than ever before.
Neither team has yet to string wins together and Friday provides that opportunity.
Trail toppled Summers County 46-20 last week while Nicholas County, which was on a bye last week, clamped Lincoln on Sept. 20.
Trail QB Thad Brown had his best performance of the season in that win against Summers County, avoiding interceptions for the first time this year while competing 14 of 16 passes for over 200 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also added three scores on the ground. Trail struggled to slow Summers’ rushing attack at times, giving up over 200 yards on the ground.
Nicholas County poses more of a threat as a balanced team.
Devin Nash leads the Grizzlies in rushing with 438 yards, over 100 per game. While not as successful as they were a year ago, they also have the ability to throw the ball with Coleton Hellems who’s thrown for over 300 yards at a 40 percent clip. For both teams this serves as a fork in the road at the halfway point as they both have playoff aspirations.
Westside (4-0) at Liberty (2-3)
The last time Westside took the field it avoided disaster and held off an upset bid from a winless PikeView team with a 35-25 victory. Liberty likely saw that and has hopes of replicating that performance with a different result.
The Raiders sit just under .500 and if they have any hopes of making a playoff push this season they’ll likely need to pick up the bucket of points that come from beating Westside. They’ll need to do so coming off a short week with their game against Buffalo being played last Saturday.
Westside was off last week and had plenty of time to reflect on the PikeView game and learn from it. The Renegades also have little room for error. They’re currently sixth in the ratings, the lowest rating for an undefeated team in Class AA. Their goal at the end is to host multiple playoff games and to do so they’ll need to keep winning again in-class opponents.
They have the players to keep their record unblemished, starting with QB Kadien Vance.
Vance is third in the area in passing yards (826) and fourth in passing touchdowns (9) but he’s arguably the top dual-threat player in the area. As a runner he’s piled up 460 yards (115 per game) and 10 rushing scores, tied for the area lead. He throws to the area’s second-leading receiver in Kyler Kenneda, an explosive playmaker who averages 24.9 yards per catch. It’s helped him produce 423 yards receiving as Vance’s go-to guy.
Liberty’s offense is more ground oriented.
Isaac Williams leads the Raiders in rushing yards with 387, adding four scores. The schedule toughens up for both teams on the back end, making this matchup important in the playoff race.
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Week 6 ScheduleÂ
Friday. Oct. 4
Fort Frye, Ohio at Greenbrier West
Greenbrier East at Shady Spring
James Monroe at Summers County
Meadow Bridge at Gilmer County
Midland Trail at Nicholas County
Mount View at Wyoming East
Independence at Oak Hill
PikeView at Sissonville
Preston County at Beckley
Princeton at Winfield
River View at Sherman
Roanoke Catholic, Va. at Montcalm
Tygarts Valley at Richwood
Westside at Liberty
Open: Bluefield
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