High School Sports

Week 2 game of the week will be a top 10 battle as Huntington goes on the road to face Hurricane. Both schools are coming off very impressive victories. Last week, #11 Huntington played host to #7 Parkersburg and took care of business in convincing fashion. QB Gavin Lochow was responsible for three first half touchdowns and never looked back. Huntington won the game 47-7. While Huntington was dismantling Parkersburg, Hurricane was playing host to Winfield. The schools are just 15 minutes away from each other, making it an electric venue. Hurricane’s offense shined, but the best performance came from the defensive side. Linebacker Brogan Brown racked up 17 total tackles. Hurricane won the game 48-10. The celebrations for these two dominant week one wins won’t last forever though. This week two matchup will have all eyes and ears tuned in. But who is most excited? One would argue that the players are, but the social media presence of the two schools are certainly high on the list. We all know college barstool accounts are very active, but it’s the high school accounts that are often overlooked. Earlier this week, the Huntington barstool account took to twitter to publicly speak out against the recent banning of Mountain Dew at their games. Yes, you read that correctly. Mountain Dew was banned at Huntington High football games. The Huntington student section has a major interest in the soda, and so does the coaching staff. It is reported that the school has some sort of partnership with Coke, which is why Mountain Dew is frowned upon.  Hurricane also has a solid social media rep, who took to twitter earlier this week to boast their big victory over Winfield. What does this have to do with the game you may ask? Well, here’s what the two barstool accounts had to say: Huntington (@barstool_hhs): “Our presence online most importantly fires up the fans, making for better turnouts and rowdier crowds which gets the players and coaches excited.” Huntington barstool also said that the way they go about trash talking just depends on the team. “It’s hard to talk bad about Hurricane because they have a good team, and their ‘stoolie’ isn’t as mindless as the others.” Like the statement from Huntington’s barstool, the Hurricane barstool (@skins_barstool) had this to say: “Our social presence can be somewhat of a hype factor for our team. Our followers have really helped us become what we are today. We always like to take the first shot at the other team’s barstool. The main goal is to make the guy on the other side of the phone look stupid.” Based on these statements, it is no doubt that a networking presence becomes a hype factor leading up to big games. It is also important to know that these accounts are not in any way affiliated with the schools. Now, we know the students and fans are ready for this huge Friday night skirmish. To the players though, this is all background noise. Their focus:  The game. Hurricane’s Brogan Brown prepares for this type of game like any other. He watches plenty of film and works on the strategies to win the game. He also added this regarding the social media aspect of this type of game: “Social media has never been a big thing to me but when the trash talk starts to happen, I don’t let it affect me. When the game starts, I let the shoulder pads do the talking.” Another Hurricane player, Scott Nichols, added this: “We just remember all the work we put in from March until now and focus on letting the game talk for itself by doing what we do.” On the other side, star quarterback for Huntington Gavin Lochow says that the social media impact is just a way to get fans more involved. “I feel like it is just a way to get the fans more involved in the game and I don’t pay any attention to it.” He also adds that Hurricane is a good team, and he and his team must remain focused. Huntington’s punter, Scout Arthur, is said to be the hype man for the team. “I try to be. I couldn’t ‘dew’ it without the help of the student section. Any sort of positive play, big or small, you can hear it from the crowd. Pure love and motivation.” The game will kick off at 7:30 PM at Hurricane High School. You watch the game live on Hurricane Sports Network on Facebook. Also, there is no better way to end this article than saying: #FreeTheDew

WV High School Football Week 7 Preview                            By Ryan Kitchen AAA Hurricane (3-3) At Lincoln County (3-3)             Two 3-3 teams on the bubble of playoff contention face off at Lions Club Field in Hamlin at 7:30 Friday night. The two schools have not met on the football field since 2008. Hurricane comes off possibly their biggest win of the season, taking down Parkersburg 42-30. Lincoln County comes into week 7 amid a 2-game losing streak, most recently losing to Raceland, Ky 38-6 on the road. The matchup has postseason implications, as the teams are tied for the 15thposition in the WVSSAC football rankings, which determine the 16 teams that get into the playoffs, and their seeding. Fairmont Senior (AA 2-3) At Spring Valley (4-2)             Last year Spring Valley snapped the Martinsburg Bulldogs 57 game winning streak. Just one week later however, they themselves fell to Fairmont Senior 27-18 in Fairmont. This year, Fairmont will make the trip to Wayne County to play in the Wolves Den Friday night at 7:30. Last week Spring Valley came up just short, falling 9-6 to the #1 ranked Huntington Highlanders. Fairmont Senior has lost two straight, most recently a 35-6 fall against University in Morgantown, but don’t let their record fool you, the Polar Bears can be a dangerous team on any given week. AA Point Pleasant (4-1) At Keyser (3-1)             #5 ranked Point Pleasant and #6 ranked Keyser meet in Mineral County at Alumni Stadium in this much anticipated game. Keyser opened the season up with 3 wins, including an impressive win over Robert C. Byrd. The win streak propelled them to #1 in AA, but they took their first loss last week to Northern High School (Accident, MD). Point Pleasant dropped their first game of the season to Greenbrier East, but has caught fire since winning four straight and breaking into the top 5. Lincoln (4-0) At Robert C. Byrd (2-2)             The new class AA #1 gets a tough road test in #19 Robert C. Byrd. The Robert C. Byrd Eagles have dropped 2 straight, most recently to class AAA #6 Bridgeport. The Cougars of Lincoln High have won their first four games, including last weeks 21-6 win over Lewis County. Though the records and rankings may point to Lincoln, Robert C. Byrd is not a team to be taken lightly, and if Lincoln gets comfortable, their time at #1 may be short lived. A Doddridge County (4-0) At Gilmer County (4-1)             Two class A heavyweights square off in this Friday nigh matchup. Doddridge County comes in ranked #2 in the class at 4-0, including a big double-overtime win two weeks ago over Ritchie County. Gilmer County rolls in at 4-1, the one loss coming in their season opener to class A #1 East Hardy. The Titans took down South Harrison two weeks ago, and now play host to the Doddridge County Bulldogs off a week of rest. Mount View (5-1) At Van (4-1)             Mount View and Van are both one loss teams, and they currently share the #10 spot in the WVSSAC football rankings. Each team dropped a game early in the season but have gotten on track since. The winner of this matchup will be in great position to not just make the playoffs, but host a game at their stadium come postseason time.

Morgantown, West Virginia - All games in Monongalia County scheduled for this evening have been cancelled.  Governor Jim Justice announced that games will not take place in areas that are in the red category and Monongalia County went into the red earlier this afternoon. https://twitter.com/U_Athletics/status/1301946052531171333?s=20 The games that have been cancelled are Bridgeport at Morgantown and University at Parkersburg South.  There is no official word on when the games will be rescheduled. In addition and to add to the whackiness of this football season, a high school game involving Parkersburg South and Cabell Midland was scheduled today and will play tonight.  It's certainly going to be an interesting season! https://twitter.com/TonyCaridi/status/1301963335890612225?s=20