John Marshall at Morgantown, 7 p.m.
MORGANTOWN — A lot can change in four weeks.
If you go back that amount of time from today, Morgantown was 3-2, celebrating a 31-28 win over Class A private powerhouse Linsly. With its only losses coming to the hands of teams that played in their respective state’s championship games last season, it appeared that Morgantown was a battle-tested team with a tough run game ready to bowl over in-state competition.
Now, MHS has lost three straight games, and the Mohigans enter Week 9 at 18th in the Class AAA playoff rankings with five losses on the season and their backs against the wall. The challenge in front of them doesn’t get any easier, either, as they host top-ten opponent John Marshall, which averages 28 points per game.
MHS needs to right the ship on both sides of the ball, as they enter this week allowing 26 points while scoring just four themselves over the course of their last three games. If those numbers don’t change, MHS will likely miss the post-season for just the second time this decade.
Preston at University, 7:30 p.m.
In their last 12 quarters of football, the Preston Knights have scored just seven points. Their opponents, meanwhile, have combined for 177.
That’s not the type of statistic that bodes well for PHS as they make the trek down Route 7 to battle Class AAA foe University. The Hawks average 352 yards and 35 points per game, with an explosive offense fueled by senior quarterback Logan Holgorsen and senior receivers Evan Parow and Amir Richardson.
The Knights will be hungry for a win after six straight losses, but so too will the Hawks, whose playoff hopes look a lot better without another loss. The Hawks sit at 13th in the WVSSAC Class AAA playoff rankings – just four spots safe from missing the post-season – and will likely take their home turf tonight with that in mind.
Conotton Valley at Clay-Battelle, 7 p.m.
BLACKSVILLE — One loss can do a lot of damage.
If that’s something Clay-Battelle football didn’t know before, its something they certainly learned Tuesday. As the Class A playoff rankings were released to the public, the Cee-Bees saw just what their one loss to Cameron meant for their season. And the news wasn’t good.
C-B dropped six spots, falling from 14th to 20th. Suddenly, the postseason seemed much more of a distant goal than it had before. The Cee-Bees need to get back to their winning ways and that starts tonight against 1-win Conotton Valley (Ohio).
