There’s one month left in the regular season and only one area team (Princeton) has solidified a playoff spot. Yet Week 7 is ripe with local matchups that will impact the postseason race including the biggest Class AA matchup the area will see this season.
Class AA No. 8 Independence (3-2) at Class AA No. 5 Westside (5-0)
Westside is off to its best start in program history at 5-0, a mark that topples the run by the 2014 semifinalist team. Independence hobbles in at 3-2 after dropping a one-point game at Class AAA No. 6 Oak Hill last week. Barring an injury down the road, a win Friday would likely lock up a first-round home game for the Renegades. Independence is still in the hunt for a home game itself but needs to win in order to make that a reality with Class AAA No. 2 Princeton and a tough unranked Mingo Central team still on the schedule.
The Renegades are led by the area’s top dual-threat QB in Kadien Vance who has thrown for 1,076 yards and 14 touchdowns, both the second-best marks amongst the 20 area teams that report stats. He’s also rushed for 515 yards and 12 more scores. Everything Westside does on offense revolves around him, though freshman Noah Ellis emerged with 91 yards on nine carries against Liberty. Vance’s top receiver, Kyler Kenneda is a dynamic vertical threat, having hauled in 22 passes for 540 yards and eight touchdowns.
Independence is led by a stout defense that’s yielding 19.2 points per game despite having played the No. 4 and 6-rated teams in Class AAA.
On offense the Patriots are paced by the area’s second-leading rusher in Sylas Nelson (121-681-10) and freshman QB Brock Green (633 yards, four touchdowns, four interceptions).
Last week the Renegades pulled away in the third quarter after leading just 25-22 three minutes into the second half. The defense ended four consecutive drives with interceptions of Liberty QB Chase Shea, shelving their blitz tendencies in favor of taking away passing opportunities. Nelson is the focal point of the Indy attack but Green is more than capable of punishing defenses with receivers Christian Linksweiler (10-259-2) and Dalton Adkins (15-217-1) at his disposal.
Class A No. 15 Greenbrier West (4-2) at Class AA No. 16 James Monroe (4-2)
There’s no surprise factor when James Monroe and Greenbrier West meet. The two teams have played four times in the last two seasons, splitting the series. James Monroe won the regular season and quarterfinal playoff matchups at James Monroe in 2022 while West returned the favor with a 2023 regular season win at home and 2023 semifinal playoff victory at James Monroe.
That won’t be the case again this year as James Monroe moved to the new double-A, taking some of the flare out of this matchup but the coals are still hot.
Both teams are largely driven by their defenses with West yielding just 13.2 points per game and James Monroe squeaking under that at 11.3 points allowed per contest.
West comes in pretty banged up and struggling on offense. After managing 19 points in a competitive win over Man two weeks ago the Cavaliers were shutout by a good Fort Frye team. As injuries have piled up, including a season-ending one to their feature back in Isaac Agee, the Cavs have adjusted to feature more of QB Evan Vandall as a runner and he’s responded with 384 yards and and team-high seven touchdowns. It does take some of the guess work out for a defense as talented as James Monroe’s.
The Mavericks have given up more than 20 points just once this season and that came in a 28-6 Week 1 loss against Wheeling Central. They followed up with a 20-13 loss to Class AAA Shady Spring but rebounded for four consecrative victories, having not allowed any team to score more than eight points over that stretch.
The Mavericks have had their own trouble finding offensive consistency but they do have options. QB Layton Dowdy has over 200 yards rushing as does running back Brock Parker. They also have three receivers (Ben Comer, Kadyn Hines and Ryan Mann) with over 100 yards receiving on the season.
While West comes in banged up, it’s worth noting James Monroe is coming off a week where it played two games in four days including one against a physical Summers County game which could level the playing field in the battle of attrition.
Class AAA No. 17 Greenbrier East (2-3) at Class AAA No. 6 Oak Hill (4-1)
Greenbrier East comes into this game in must-win mode if it wants to make the playoffs. The schedule has been difficult up to this point but hits a new level starting this week. The Spartans travel to the No. 6-rated team in their class this week and close the season with No. 2 Princeton and No. 8 Nitro. Winning isn’t impossible but in a way East will be playing a schedule that one could see in the first, second and third rounds of the playoffs.
Oak Hill has a realistic shot at hosting a playoff game on its new turf field but can’t afford to slip up with little value in bonus points on the back end of the schedule aside from a home contest against Class AAAA Beckley.
The Red Devils are led by an offense that’s largely struggled to move the ball aside from QB Devin Richardson. Richardson has thrown for 730 yards and five touchdowns, completing just 43.8 percent of his passes. But the completion percentage is offset by his ability to extend drives with his legs as he’s picked up a team-high 362 yards rushing and six scores with his legs. J.D. Mauritz is the team’s second-leading rusher, averaging 58.2 yards per game (292 on the season).
If Oak Hill wants to get its offense on track, this matchup yields the opportunity to do so. The Spartans yield 32.6 points per game and have yet to hold a team under 20 points in a game this season. It’s put a lot of pressure on the offense to perform and it’s largely responded.
Junior QB Brody Hamric leads East with 813 yards passing and nine touchdown tosses. He’s surrounded by talented receivers in Nate Suttle (24-345-3) and Grant Burdette (13-166) as well as running back Brady May (103-385-6) who’s coming off a four-touchdown performance against Shady Spring. It’s a strength-on-strength matchup with Oak Hill’s defense is yielding just 17 points per game.
Class AA No. 20 Liberty (2-4) at Class AAA No. 14 Shady Spring (3-2)
In many ways this is a playoff elimination game for both teams, though probably more for Liberty than Shady.
Shady lost the only game on its schedule against an in-class opponent last week when it hosted Greenbrier East. Liberty already has four losses and won’t have enough bonus or strength of schedule points to get in as a .500 team.
The Tiger offense has been boosted since the return of starting QB Cal Culicerto who missed two games. He’s thrown for 576 yards and seven touchdowns with no interceptions in 64 attempts. Nathan Easley has been the top target in the passing game with 276 yards and three scores to lead the team. Evan Romage rounds out the assault as the leading rusher (68-395-5), proving a strong balance for the offense.
Liberty has relied heavily on the ground attack but opened the playbook and took to the air for a season-high 23 pass attempts. It yielded success early as Liberty trails 25-22 in the third quarter and was driving to take the lead before Westside came away with interceptions on four consecutive drives to distance itself.
The rushing attack is varied with four different Raiders over 100 yards rushing on the season. Isaac Williams leads that charge with 461 yards and five touchdowns. Kris Bowman leads the team in receiving with 214 yards while Riley Marty is at 130 on 11 catches.
Week 7 ScheduleÂ
Beckley at Riverside
Bluefield at PikeView
Braxton at Nicholas County
Buffalo at Mount View
Clay-Battelle at Meadow Bridge
Greenbrier East at Oak Hill
Greenbrier West at James Monroe
Liberty at Shady Spring
Liberty (Harrison) at Wyoming East
Phelps, KY at Montcalm
River View at Tug Valley
Trinity Christian at Richwood
Independence at Westside
Open: Midland Trail, Princeton, Summers County.
