By Tom Bragg, For Lootpress.com
With the schedule Hurricane played through the first 10 weeks of the West Virginia high school football season, it would be tough to question if the Redskins are battle tested heading into the postseason.
After Week 11, win or lose, there will be no denying it.
Unbeaten Class AAAA No. 1 Martinsburg, the powerhouse from the Eastern Panhandle who has had a chokehold on the big-school classification in West Virginia for most of the last 15 years, makes a rare regular season trip to the Kanawha Valley to visit Hurricane on Friday, and Redskins coach Donnie Mays said he knows his team will have its hands full with the Bulldogs.
“It’s the same old Martinsburg,” Mays said. “They roll in undefeated. They’re good, well coached. They’;ve got athletes and they’re a physical football team. We’ve got to play lights out and try to put ourselves in a position to be a ballgame.”
The Redskins (7-2) come into Friday’s contest with the Bulldogs at the No. 4 position in this week’s WVSSAC Class AAAA playoff ratings after a 37-21 win against Mountain State Athletic Conference rival George Washington.
Senior quarterback Noah Vellaithambi continued his outstanding season with an 18 of 26 performance for 270 yards and three touchdowns – and two interceptions – against the Patriots last week while also running for 75 yards and two scores. Junior receiver Ja’Lei Burnette has emerged as Hurricane’s top target through the air this season, and was a force against GW with 7 catches for 121 yards and three touchdowns.
“[GW] is a good defense,” Mays said. “We kind of shot ourselves in the foot inside the five three times. It could have gotten out of hand if we had scored, we just didn’t do it and I should probably kick field goals. We left some points out there, and we can’t afford to do that going forward.”
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With one week of games remaining, the playoff picture for Kanawha, Putnam and Boone teams has started to clear up.
Hurricane is obviously in win of lose Friday against Martinsburg, while Class AAAA No. 9 GW (7-2) will look to improve its postseason seeding and snatch a home playoff game in Charleston when the Patriots hit the road on Friday to close the regular season at No. 11 Woodrow Wilson (5-4).
In Class AAA, No. 4 Herbert Hoover won convincingly at Class AAAA Hedgesville last week in a 45-0 rout and will aim to keep its momentum rolling and unbeaten season intact on the road at Weir (1-8).
The Huskies will likely need some help to move up to one of the top three spots in the postseason bracket, while No. 6 Nitro (8-1) is on the road at Greenbrier East (3-6). The Wildcats are battling with No. 5 Oak HIll (8-1) and Nos. 7 and 8 Spring Valley and North Marion for positioning in the top half of the bracket. Winfield sits at No. 21 in Class AAA this week and would need a win against No. 16 Point Pleasant and probably some help elsewhere to sneak into the top 16.
In Class AA, No. 8 Scott (7-2) hosts No. 3 Williamstown (8-1) in one of the state’s top matchups in Week 11. Class A No. 8 Sherman (7-2) can possibly improve its seed with a win Friday at Class AA Poca (4-5).
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Other Kanawha, Putnam and Boone games this week:
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St. Albans (3-6) at Spring Valley)
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South Charleston (0-9) at Capital (2-7)
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Riverside (1-8) at Cabell Midland (4-5)
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Sissonville (0-9) at Wayne (5-4)
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Tug Valley (9-0) at Van (2-7)
