After an eventful opening week, we now have an idea of how to gauge several area teams and what they might look like this season. If there are any doubts though, Week 2 serves to answer many questions. A pair of area Class AA teams that have serious championship aspirations face stiff tasks that could springboard them early while long-standing feuds add to this week’s intrigue.
Showdown at Mitchell
Bluefield will hope to avoid last year’s pitfall when it hosts a Princeton team that’s established itself as one of the powers in Southern West Virginia. The Beavers struggled out of the gate last week against Graham, falling behind 27-6 before a late charge gave them a shot to win. They ultimately fell 29-25 but discovered some positives along the way. With all-state running back Amir Hairston held to 18 yards on 10 carries, offensive coordinator Fritz Simon mixed in a steady dose of RPOs and trick plays that created wide open opportunities in the passing game but the execution wasn’t there. Still, it gave players like R.J. Hairston, Gerrard Wade, Sencere Fields and Caleb Fuller an opportunity to showcase they can make plays as well.
For Princeton things were different in Week 1. The Tigers rolled to an easy win over Lincoln County where a plethora of players, including a pair of underclassmen in Marquel Lowe and Brad Mossor, got in on the action in the win. Princeton QB Grant Cochran was his usual self, tossing three touchdowns and running for another.
The Tigers won this matchup with Bluefield a year ago by controlling the ball on the ground, generating turnovers and relying on the leg of Casey Geso who kicked the game winning field goal in a 39-36 win. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Princeton lean on the running game again after Graham running back Ty’Drez Clements rushed for over 240 yards against Bluefield last week, affirming the run defense is still a work in progress. Another storyline to watch will be how the Bluefield run game responds. The Beaver offensive line struggled to protect Fuller last week and much of Hairston’s lack of success was due to the fact he was met in the backfield as soon as he received the ball. If it wasn’t a toss play to the outside, Hairston’s runs stood little to no chance. Princeton has the bodies up front to clog lanes if there isn’t improvement.
Last but not least, it’s never too early to look ahead to playoff implications. Both teams play difficult schedules that test them each week. Princeton will face Hurricane, Beckley, Greenbrier East, Bridgeport and Parkersburg South – all playoff teams from a year ago. For Bluefield three Class AAA teams – Princeton being the first – sit on the schedule with a plethora of bonus points available should they win those. Winning Friday could be the difference between hosting a playoff game or hitting the road.
Marching on
Speaking of Class AAA bonus points, Independence has an early opportunity to snag a few when it hosts a revitalized Oak Hill team on Friday. It won’t be easy.
The Red Devils have shown they’re improved from a year ago with a 17-7 win in their opener at Nicholas County, but the score doesn’t tell the story of how improved they are. Oak Hill fumbled four times in that win and rode its defense, one that snapped Grizzlies running back Kaleb Clark’s 11-game 100-yard rushing streak, to the win. In that game the Red Devils discovered a new rising star in defensive tackle James Green who compiled 9.5 tackles for a loss.
If the Red Devils hope to pick up an early statement win they’ll need Green to harness that energy again, though his work’s cut out for him. The 150 pound tackle will be challenged by an Indy line that averages 280 across the trenches and has made mincemeat of opposing teams over the last year. As if the hogs up front weren’t daunting enough, they pave the way for some of the state’s most explosive playmakers in scatback Judah Price and quarterback Trey Bowers. Price picked up 196 yards and four touchdowns last week on eight carries, resting halfway through the second quarter. Bowers picked up 44 yards on three carries but had a 50-yard run called back after an unnecessary penalty.
Much like Princeton-Bluefield, the same playoff principles apply here. Oak Hill’s schedule features seven playoff teams from a year ago meaning wins are earned. For Independence, a team hoping to pave the road to Wheeling through Coal City, winning Friday boosts those chances while also preparing the Patriots for what they’ll see in the postseason.
Rivalry Week
Per usual, Beckley and Greenbrier East will renew their rivalry this Friday in Fairlea. The matchup is one of teams that made the postseason a year ago and has major implications on the early course of the season. East is coming off a loss to Point Pleasant while Beckley, which jumped out to a 28-0 lead last week, outlasted Riverside 31-28. Beckley brings in a largely different cast than a year ago when it lost to East while the Spartans bring back many of the same skill players that made them successful.
The only problem for the hosts this week is they graduated most of the offensive linemen that made the skill players shine. Ian Cline, East’s first-team all-state running back, was held to minus-2 yards rushing on 10 carries last week, demonstrating the impact the graduations are having early. If East loses, it’ll put the Spartans in an 0-2 hole with a challenging schedule still ahead. On the flip side Beckley would be 2-0 with favorable matchups against Lincoln County and Preston back-to-back towards the end of September.
Class A struggle
Summers County and Greenbrier West both have playoff aspirations and the angling for playoff positioning begins this week. The two teams play many of the same opponents and feature a stable of talented players.
For West, Ty Nickell comes into the week as the area’s leading rusher after picking up 248 yards and three touchdowns in less than three quarters of work. On defense he added five tackles for a loss in a 33-0 drubbing of Buffalo. You can bet Summers’ game plan begins with locating him on every play.
Nickell and the West defense will have their hands full as well. In their second year under Josh Evans, the Bobcats have grown with their core from last year still intact. In Evans’ Wing-T system, discipline is challenged as it often utilizes four different rushers, all of whom can cause damage at any given time. Duke Dodson and Drake Cole spearhead that effort while Ryan Oliveros, Ben Lane and Tyson Adkins are capable runners as well.
For those on a time constraint, this is the game of the week. With a pair of teams that prefer to keep the ball on the ground, the over/under on time of completion is officially set at 70 minutes.
Around the area
Elsewhere in the area several Class AA teams hope to right the ship with one trying to keep the momentum going. That one is Westside which picked up a win over rival Wyoming East. Led by QB Kaiden Vance, the Renegades will host Mingo Central with a chance to improve to 2-0 under first-year coach Justin Cogar. The task won’t be easy with a talented Mingo Central group that had a bye last week, thus got to scout the Renegades while limiting what film is available for Westside to use. The positives are issues such as cramps, miscommunications, penalties and other miscues shouldn’t plague the Renegades the same as they would a team making its season debut as Mingo is. The other two Class AA matchups include Shady Spring at Nicholas County and Wyoming East vs. Wahama at Laidley Field.
Nicholas still has hopes of hosting a playoff game but will need to buckle down as the baseline for doing so is two losses and losing to Class AAA Oak Hill hurts the bonus point category. The Grizzlies will host a Shady team that stumbled out of the gate last week, falling on the road to Class A Tug Valley. The Tigers are young up front, giving the Grizzlies a chance to get back on track while also allowing Kaleb Clark to start a new 100-yard streak.
Wyoming East will look to get in the win column against Wahama as will PikeView when it travels to Van.
In Class A Meadow Bridge will host Richwood, Midland Trail will travel to Tolsia and James Monroe will make the trip to Pendleton County.
Make sure to cast your vote for the Week 2 winners!
Email: Tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
