It’s a pivotal week for the four prep football teams in Monongalia County. It’s the final week of the regular season and the playoff picture is still being developed.
“We see it as a do-or-die type of thing,” University head coach John Kelley said. “Everything is on the line.”
The Hawks and rival Morgantown are currently on solid footing within the Class AAA playoffs. Morgantown, after beating UHS last week, sits at No. 10 and University is No. 15.
MHS (6-3) takes on Linsly (9-1) and University (6-3) plays at Spring Mills (4-5). Linsly is not a member of the West Virginia Secondary School Activity Commission and therefore not eligible for the playoffs. The Mohigans will likely remain in the playoffs, even with a loss.
Kelley feels his team could be in either way, too. However, a win is not only important to ensure a playoff berth, but it’s also meaningful for the UHS senior class.
“We had a really exhilarating practice,” Kelley said. “We had a couple fights and got after it a bit. A couple seniors made mention that this is not going to be our last Wednesday practice. That’s the kind of leaders they’ve been. They experienced a great thing with an undefeated season last year and obviously, that didn’t happen again this year but I think we’ve played better than people thought we would. We’ve worked hard to put ourselves in a pretty good position.”
Kelley believes a win against Spring Mills could vault the Hawks to a No. 12 or No. 13 seed in the playoffs. The loss to MHS snapped a four-game winning streak where University outscored opponents 157-39. Spring Mills has won its last two games and sits on the outside looking in at the playoffs at No. 18. But a home win for the Cardinals will give them hope for the postseason.
“We have to go over there and take care of business and show that we can bounce back well following a bitter defeat,” Kelley said. “We have to play at that level or better to beat this team. They’re in the hunt, too. If they beat us, they could get in.”
It’s a win-and-get-in mentality for Clay-Battelle in Class A as well. Even though the Cee-Bees (7-2) sit at No. 17, a victory over Hundred should be enough to lift them a spot into the playoff standings. Currently, Clay-Battelle has a rating of 5.88. Tug Valley, which holds the No. 16 place as the final playoff spot, has a rating of 6.22.
“We can only control what we do,” C-B head coach Ryan Wilson said. “I give the kids a lot of credit, they come in and prepare every week. There’s been great preparation in the games that we’ve needed to win and it’s paid off on the field on Fridays. We hope that can continue this week. That’s all we can do. We can’t control the other games, but we can cheer and hope. We’re just focused on taking care of ourselves.”
Wilson and his team see this match-up with Hundred (2-6) as a playoff game. But the Cee-Bees have treated the past three weeks as playoff games because of how meaningful they’ve been in the fight for their postseason lives.
Following a 42-0 loss to Cameron on Oct. 14, Wilson knew that the next three games would make or break the season. Right after the loss, Clay-Battelle went to western Maryland and knocked off Hancock, 35-12, and then dominated Calhoun County at home, 40-6, last week.
“Three weeks ago, coming into the Hancock game, we were looking at the scenarios,” Wilson said. “We told the kids that this was playoff time for us. We knew back then that we would have to win out — and we’d need help. That was starting weeks ago. We like where we’re at because we’ve been prepared for these tests along the way.”
Also in Class A, Trinity will need a win and a lot of help to get into the playoffs. The Warriors (6-3) are currently No. 21 in the standings, tied with Wirt County. Trinity (6-3) plays at Weirton Madonna (4-5), which is No. 25 in the playoff standings.
In Week 1, Trinity beat Hundred, 47-24.
By Matthew Peaslee
TWEET @DomPostSports
