BUCKHANNON – You can’t tell a whole lot from week one of the high school football season, but in Class AAA, there semes to be a huge gap between the have and the have nots.
The closest game among the top eight teams was 28 points.
No. 1 Huntington looks like a safe bet to repeat after a 42-7 win over No. 10 Spring Valley, No. 3 Hurricane, who is openly flaunting all the transfers they brought in, beat No. 4 in AA Winfield by a 63-0 score, No. 6 Parkersburg South ran the score up on Capital, 83-26 and No. 8 Morgantown pushed over South Charleston by a 65-0 score.
You get the picture.
Maybe creating a Class AAAA in football is the answer, but it appears that unless the WVSSAC changes how they classify teams, the Bucs would be in that largest class.
There have always been strong programs that stay at the top of the rankings, but like I said, it seems like the strong have only gotten stronger, especially with the state’s new transfer rules.
I don’t know what the answer is, but teams scoring 83 points or winning by 65 isn’t good for the game.
Looking at the first week standings, Beckie along with myself went a perfect 7-0 while Brian went 6-1 and Katie posted a 5-2 mark. Monica had a rough week one, checking in with a 3-4 mark.
My Buckhannon standings
Beckie 7-0
Duane 7-0
Brian 6 -1
Katie 5-2
Monica 3-4
We had a great response to our first week of Scoreboard Showdown challenge. I look forward to seeing how our readers do. While our first week picks are now closed, get in early with week two by clicking here or the banner below.
Onto our games.
Buckhannon-Upshur (0-1) at Ripley (0-1)
Last year, the Bucs got handled by Bridgeport and rebounded to beat Ripley 13-6. I see the same thing happening this year. However you want to slice it up, the Bucs just aren’t ready to compete with a team like Bridgeport. Ripley on the other hand, is a much better match-up for our Mighty Bucs. B-U gets win number one tonight.
Duane: Buckhannon-Upshur; Brian: Buckhannon-Upshur; Beckie: Buckhannon-Upshur; Katie: Buckhannon-Upshur; Monica: Ripley.
Morgantown (1-0) at Bridgeport (1-0)
Morgantown won this game last year between two Class AAA heavyweights. Neither team was really tested last week as Morgantown got little resistance from South Charleston in a 65-0 win. I think Morgantown has a little bit more talent than the Indians, but the game should be close.
Duane: Morgantown; Brian: Morgantown: Beckie: Morgantown; Katie: Morgantown; Monica: Morgantown.
WVU (0-0) at Penn State (0-0)
Boy, does this game have disaster written all over it. The Mountaineers are 20.5-point underdogs at press time. If the Mountaineers are within three touchdowns, I think that will be a win for them. There isn’t anything I can say about head coach Neal Brown that hasn’t already been said, but I feel if he loses to Penn State and Pittsburgh in two weeks, he will be gone.
Duane: Penn State; Brian: Penn State; Beckie: Penn State; Katie: Penn State; Monica: WVU.
The Final Four
Preston (0-1) at North Marion (1-0)
Duane: North Marion; Brian: North Marion; Beckie: North Marion Katie: North Marion; Monica: Preston.
Elkins (0-1) at Lincoln (1-0)
Duane: Lincoln; Brian: Lincoln; Beckie: Lincoln; Katie: Lincoln; Monica: Elkins.
Johnson C. Smith (0-0) at WVWC (0-0)
Duane; Johnson C. Smith; Brian: West Virginia Wesleyan; Beckie: West Virginia Wesleyan; Katie: West Virginia Wesleyan; Monica: Johnson C. Smith.
Albany (0-0) at Marshall (0-0)
Duane: Marshall; Brian: Marshall; Beckie: Marshall; Katie: Albany; Monica: Marshall.
