We are less than a week away from the official playoff brackets being released by the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission. Tuesday the SSAC released the latest round of playoff rankings.
During the next few weeks, LedeNews.com will examine the playoff race, by class, each week. This week, we’ll take a look at the rankings prior to the final week of play and some potential outcomes. Today we take a look at AA.
Golden Bears Primed
The No. 4 ranked Oak Glen Golden Bears are primed to position themselves nicely when the postseason begins.
What should have been a rigorous two week stretch against Class AAA Spring Mills and the Class AA No. 3 ranked Frankfort Falcons amounted to a two-week layoff thanks for COVID cancellations.
Unable to find games to fill those slots, the Golden Bears are rested entering Friday’s regular season finale against winless Philip Barbour (0-6).
A win should guarantee Ted Arneault’s club at minimum two first round home games, should it advance.
No. 1 Sissonville should dispatch of Roane County and retain the top spot. No. 2 Bluefield is off this week as Mingo Central’s home county fell into the red.
The same fate will likely befall the Mineral Bowl in Mineral County between Frankfort and No. 6 Keyser. Mineral County turned red Wednesday morning and an announcement on the game’s fate is likely forthcoming.
Oak Glen oaks an impressive victory earlier this season against the Golden Tornado.
If the playoffs started this week, Oak Glen would be hosting No. 13 Independence. The meeting would pit two Kennedy Award candidates in the Bears’ Hunter Patterson and the Patriots’ Atticus Goodson.
Patterson averages 94.2 yards rushing per game and 113.5 receiving with 16 total touchdowns in six games. Goodson, meanwhile, is the Indy workhorse, logging 1,506 yards on 133 carries (11.3 yards per carry).
Home Office Update
In speaking with multiple news outlets Wednesday, WVSSAC Executive Director Bernie Dolan provided an update on the plans for the final playoff rankings for next week.
Many questions were had as it relates to potential playoff teams appearing in orange and red.
The SSAC will delay releasing the rankings until after the W.Va. Dept. of Education COVID map is released Saturday at 5 p.m. Any team listed in orange or red will be removed from the rankings and the playoff field adjusted accordingly.
Dolan noted that should help guarantee all first-round games go off. After the opening round, if a team falls into orange or red, its opponent will advance via forfeit.
As of today’s 10 a.m. update on the W.Va. DHHR website, only three teams in the Top 16 are currently either orange or red.
Keep in mind, this is not the map used for eligibility. That is released Saturday’s at 5 p.m. on the state’s department of education site. However, this gives you a good idea of where each county is trending.
Those currently in the danger zone as Saturday approaches are Frankfort, Keyser, and Poca. The Dots are sitting outside the Top 8 at No. 9 with a 5-1 record and were set to play Winfield (0-5) this week in the annual Putnam-county showdown.
In fact, the only gold team in the current Top 16 is Braxton County at No. 14. Of the three classes, the AA postseason will likely be the least effected, if current trends hold.
The Rankings
| Rank | Team | Rating | Wins | Losses | COVID Map Color |
| 1 | SISSONVILLE | 12.2 | 5 | 0 | Yellow |
| 2 | BLUEFIELD | 11.83 | 5 | 1 | Green |
| 3 | FRANKFORT | 11.5 | 7 | 1 | Red |
| 4 | OAK GLEN HIGH SCHOOL | 11 | 5 | 1 | Green |
| 5 | LIBERTY (Raleigh) | 10.67 | 6 | 0 | Green |
| 6 | KEYSER | 10.33 | 7 | 2 | Red |
| 7 | FAIRMONT SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL | 9.88 | 6 | 2 | Green |
| 8 | ROBERT C. BYRD | 9 | 6 | 2 | Green |
| 9 | POCA | 8.17 | 5 | 1 | Orange |
| 10 | CLAY COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL | 8 | 7 | 1 | Green |
| 11 | NORTH MARION | 7.75 | 5 | 3 | Green |
| 12 | POINT PLEASANT SENIOR/MIDDLE SCHOOL | 7.67 | 4 | 2 | Green |
| 13 | INDEPENDENCE SENIOR | 7.57 | 5 | 2 | Green |
| 14 | BRAXTON COUNTY | 7 | 5 | 2 | Gold |
| 15 | LIBERTY (Harrison) | 6.83 | 4 | 2 | Green |
| 16 | LINCOLN | 6.5 | 4 | 2 | Green |
| 17 | ELKINS | 6.43 | 4 | 3 | Yellow |
| 18 | HERBERT HOOVER | 6.33 | 4 | 2 | Yellow |
| 19 | Lewis County | 5.56 | 4 | 5 | Yellow |
| 20 | BERKELEY SPRINGS | 5.14 | 3 | 4 | Gold |
| 21 | WESTSIDE | 4.5 | 2 | 2 | Gold |
| 22 | CHAPMANVILLE | 3.8 | 2 | 3 | Green |
| 23 | NICHOLAS COUNTY | 3.5 | 3 | 5 | Green |
| 24 | SHADY SPRING | 3.33 | 2 | 4 | Green |
| 24 | WAYNE | 3.33 | 2 | 4 | Gold |
| 24 | MINGO CENTRAL | 3.33 | 1 | 2 | Red |
| 27 | GRAFTON | 3 | 3 | 6 | Green |
| 28 | ROANE COUNTY | 2.83 | 2 | 4 | Green |
| 29 | WEIR | 2.75 | 2 | 6 | Green |
| 30 | EAST FAIRMONT | 2.67 | 2 | 7 | Green |
| 31 | WYOMING EAST | 2 | 1 | 4 | Gold |
| 32 | LOGAN | 1.8 | 1 | 4 | Green |
| 33 | SCOTT | 1.63 | 1 | 7 | Yellow |
| 34 | PIKEVIEW | 0.78 | 1 | 8 | Green |
| 35 | WINFIELD | 0 | 0 | 5 | Orange |
| 35 | PHILIP BARBOUR HIGH SCHOOL | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| 35 | NITRO | 0 | 0 | 6 |
Key Matchups
Speaking of Braxton County, the Eagles have a big matchup at home against No. 10 Clay County (7-1).
Braxton got off to a slow start, losing two straight but has reeled off five straight wins. A win against the Panthers should guarantee a spot. Clay, meanwhile, could potentially vault itself into the Top 8 with a win.
Elsewhere, No.16 Lincoln (4-3) has a tall task ahead of it. The Cougars host red-hot No. 8 Robert C. Byrd (6-2). The Eagles are coming off a big win against North Marion in which running back Jeremiah King became the all-time leading rusher at RCB whilst totaling better than 300 yards against the Huskies.
Lincoln is coming off a Tuesday loss to Herbert Hoover, 14-12, on the road.
RCB should be assured a first-round home game with a win while a Lincoln loss may keep the Cougars out of the postseason.
Speaking of those Huskies, North Marion (5-3) dropped to No. 11 in the loss and hosts No. 15 Liberty Harrison. North Marion will look to snap a two-game skid that begin with a 36-19 loss to Frankfort.
The Mountaineer have won three of four since being on the receiving end of a 63-0 shellacking from Class AAA Bridgeport.
