VAN – The Van Bulldogs look to keep their Class A playoff hopes alive Tuesday night when they travel to Virginia to face the Hurley Rebels.
With three games left in the season, the Bulldogs know there is little room for error and a loss Tuesday night or Friday night against Buffalo would be damaging to the playoff hopes.
“Going to Hurley on a Tuesday and playing again on a Friday was definitely not ideal for us,” Van coach Mark Agosti said. “We really needed and wanted a full schedule, and at this point in the season you can’t be too picky.”
The Bulldogs will be without a pair of interior linemen as Andrew Beard, a 5’9’’ 220-pound senior, and Weston Gunnoe, a 5’9’’ 275-pound junior, will miss the game due to injury. Gunnoe has 27 tackles this season and recorded 15 tackles in a loss to Sherman on Oct. 8.
Expected to start in their place are a pair of freshmen in Dalton Kessinger, 6’2’’ and 289-pounds, and Cade Price, 6’0’’ and 255 pounds.
Hurley enters the contest with a 1-5 record following Friday night’s 40-8 defeat to Grundy (VA). The Rebels have had rough go this season and dressed only 16 players in the loss.
“Not sure how significant the record is,” Agosti said. “They played River View pretty close and then got beat pretty bad by Tug Valley.”
The Rebels lone victory came over Rye Cove (VA), 34-14, on Sept. 28, as Payton Hurley ran for 101 yards and two touchdowns and returned a punt for another touchdown in the win.
“He is impressive on film,” Agosti said. “They primarily run a Wing T and double wing offense.”
The Rebels, having played just six games this season, have faced adversity all season. The schools missed 21 days due to COVID and then they were out two weeks when floods ravaged the Hurley area on Aug. 30.
Football practice was halted as players and coaches helped with the cleanup from the devastation left behind the raging waters. At the time of the flood, six of 23 players were impacted by flooding.
Van, who started the season 4-1, has lost its last two games to Class A No. 4 Mount View (12-8) and No. 11 Sherman (24-14) putting its once bright playoff hopes in trouble.
“I don’t feel we played well against Sherman,” Agosti said. “But they (Sherman) had a lot to do with that.”
Part of the reason for the Bulldogs two-game losing streak has been the inability to take care of the football. Against Mount View, the Bulldogs turned it over five times and three more times against Sherman.
“Turnovers have been the issue all year,” Agosti said. “We definitely have to fix that to have any shot of winning the next three games.”
Van is currently tied for 17th in the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission playoff ratings. The Bulldogs will host Buffalo on Friday before closing out the season at home against Tug Valley on Nov. 5.
Tug Valley travels to Clay County: Tug Valley has won three-of-its-last-four and has played its way onto the playoff bubble with two weeks left in the high school football season.
The Panthers are coming off a 29-22 victory over Westside and will look to continue to ride that wave of momentum into Clay County Tuesday night.
Clay, currently outside the top 20 of the Class AA playoff ratings, defeated Class A No. 16 River View, 20-6, Friday night to improve to 4-4 on the season.
Neither school has been eliminated from the postseason, but the winner of Tuesday’s contest will have to win out and receive help to qualify for the postseason.
Tug Valley, the top seed in last season’s 2020 Class A playoffs but eliminated by COVID protocols, is looking for its 10th Class A playoff berth since 2006 and 11th overall.
Clay County is in search of its 11th overall appearance in Class AA. Last season Clay County was eliminated in the first round by Bluefield, 47-6. Clay County will close out the season at home on Nov. 5 against Braxton County.
Tug Valley will travel to Man Friday night before closing the season at Class A No. 17 Van on Nov. 5.
