WVSSAC Super Six Football Championships

The Road to the Island
Monday, November 5, 2007
By MIKE HUGHES- The Intelligencer & Wheeling News-Register

The road to the Super Six begins across the Mountain State this weekend.

And after some last-minute positioning, all three 16-team fields are set.

Locally, six teams from the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference managed to advance to the postseason, while a couple narrowly missed out on the dance.

In Class AAA, despite a disappointing 33-27 overtime defeat to Hurricane, the Brooke Bruins remained No. 12 and travel to Kanawha County on Friday for a meeting with No. 5 St. Albans (9-1).

The Bruins and Dragons have only one common opponent — Hurricane — with St. Albans scoring a slim 21-20 victory Sept. 21.

St. Albans’ lone defeat came to No. 13 Nitro, a humbling 58-14 road setback.

For the Bruins, this marks their second straight trip to the postseason, following a lengthy absence. Last season, Brooke fell on the road to eventual state runner-up Martinsburg, in the first round.

John Marshall’s late-season surge pushed the Monarchs into the postseason at No. 14. Morgantown and JM each finished with 9 points, but the Monarchs won the tiebreaker, meaning they travel to Stadium Field on Saturday afternoon to take on the defending champion Parkersburg Big Reds. The Mohigans, meanwhile, get a return bout of the Mohawk Bowl against No. 2 University.

If there’s one silver lining in how that played out for JM, it’s that in Parkersburg’s only defeat of the season, a 19-14 loss to No. 1 George Washington, the Big Reds struggled against the Patriots’ passing attack.

Speaking of Patriots, Wheeling Park narrowly missed another postseason berth. Park controlled its own destiny and needed only to defeat No. 4 Robert C. Byrd in the regular-season finale and it was in.

But the Patriots fell short, falling 28-6, to the Eagles.

Class AA

Magnolia again reached the postseason under coach Mark Batton, rattling off eight straight victories after an 0-2 start and finishing with the No. 6 seed.

The Blue Eagles will play host to No. 11 Wyoming East on Friday at Alumni Field in New Martinsville.

Before Friday’s loss to Liberty Raleigh, the Warriors only two previous defeats came to No. 3 James Monroe and No. 5 Scott.

Magnolia and Wyoming East have no common opponents, but the friendly confines of Alumni Field should be a welcome site for Batton and company. Last season, Magnolia went on the road in Round 1 and received a rude welcome from Keyser.

Tyler Consolidated has returned to the playoffs for the first time since the final season of former coach John Stender’s tenure in 2003.

In that season, the Silver Knights played host to Mount View in the first round and had a seemingly comfortable lead at the half, only to watch the visitors mount a comeback and knock Tyler out of the playoffs.

Current coach Rob Caldwell’s club finished with a seven-game winning streak to close out the regular season at 8-2 and earned the No. 7 seed.

The Silver Knights play host to the Raiders on Saturday afternoon in Kidwell.

Like Magnolia and Wyoming East, Tyler and Liberty have no common opponents.

In their two biggest games of the season, the Raiders took two games on the chin to James Monroe and Scott, 40-0 and 47-6, respectively.

Class A

In a recurring theme in Class A, the Wheeling Central Maroon Knights finished with the No. 1 seed after running the table for the second straight season.

The general consensus around the state is the remaining 15 teams are fighting for runner-up, but that’s just fans talking.

Central coach Mike Young will have his team prepped and ready for each game, and you can bet the Maroon Knights opponents will be chomping at the bit for a shot at knocking off the three-time defending champs.

First up for Central is a home contest Saturday afternoon at Wheeling Island Stadium against Clarksburg Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish have one common opponent with the Maroon Knights, Oak Glen.

But while the Golden Bears earned their lone victory of the season against Notre Dame, Central hammered them 69-7.

Notre Dame also fell to Weirton Madonna, 21-20, in overtime.

The Blue Dons happen to be rated No. 4, and if things go right, will face Central in a semifinal showdown on the Island.

But first, Madonna will have to take care of the No. 13 team, Pendelton County (7-3) at Jimmy Carey Stadium.

The Wildcats are reeling on the heels of a two-game losing streak to end the regular season, 7-6 to No. 9 Moorefield and 13-6 to Greenbrier West.

Bishop Donahue, despite a 7-3 record, just missed out, finishing No. 18.

The costly game for the Bishops was a narrow 23-22 defeat on the road to Valley Fayette in Week 4.