MORGANTOWN — Both University head coach John Kelley and Morgantown head coach Matt Lacy said that their teams needed to finish 2-0 for any chance at the postseason.
Both checked the box next to Step 1 Friday night with the Hawks’ 50-0 win over Preston and the Mohigans’ 49-13 win over John Marshall, but someone is going to miss out on Step 2 next week.
The Mohawk Bowl is set for 7 p.m. Oct. 26 at MHS with a lot on the line for each team. University (5-4) is in better standing as of now, sitting at No. 13 and will earn 12 points for a Class AAA win and one bonus point with Friday’s win against the Knights.
That brings the Hawks’ total to 67 points and because Parkersburg South and Buckhannon-Upshur — teams UHS beat — won Friday, that’s an additional two bonus points which brings its total to 69.
Morgantown (4-5) had a critical victory against the Monarchs not only for a Class AAA win, but it also netted the Mohigans four bonus points. Sitting at No. 18 and out of the top 16, they are behind No. 17 Hurricane and No. 16 Spring Mills.
Spring Mills lost to Mountain Ridge (Md.), so that will benefit MHS, though Hurricane beat George Washington.
As it stands, the Mohigans should have 55 total points, but the Redskins will have at least 56 and will stay ahead of the pace.
“We didn’t want to put any extra pressure on the kids, but the reality of the situation is if we don’t [beat John Marshall], then we’re done and we’re not gonna make the playoffs at 4-6 this year like we did last year,” Lacy said.
Regardless, the Mohawk Bowl will be crucial to both teams with the winner sitting pretty and the loser sitting with fingers crossed on both hands.
“Looking at the scores [Friday night], I’d say whoever wins the Mohawk Bowl is in and whoever loses is out — that’s how big a game it is,” Kelley said. “We’ve both been up and down all day and it depends on which team shows up. Morgantown was fantastic against John Marshall and I’m sure they’ll bring their A-game — we’ll have to be the same way.”
Clay-Battelle
The Cee-Bees also find themselves on the fringe of being in or out of the playoffs. They came into Friday’s game at No. 20 in the Class A playoff race and earned a 20-0 win over Conotton Valley (Ohio).
The victory nets C-B (5-3) six points for beating a Class A team, plus a bonus point for Conotton Valley’s one win. With Meadow Bridge’s win over Montcalm, the Cee-Bees get an additional bonus point to their total, which comes out to 37 with two games remaining.
Of the four teams C-B needs to jump, No. 19 Pocahontas County (31 points) and tied-No. 15 Tyler Consolidated (34) lost, so the Cee-Bees should pass them to get to 18th. However, No. 18 Webster County, No. 17 Tygarts Valley and tied-No. 15 Ritchie County won their games, so it is unlikely C-B will move any higher.
Twitter @SeanManning_DP
