The quarterfinal round of the West Virginia Class AAA playoffs turned into the upset-free zone as the brackets held chalk with the top four seeds advancing to the semifinal round.
Those results set up a pair of intriguing matchups. One is a rematch of a tightly contested Week Three battle. The other is a Herculean task for the visiting team.
First up, No. 3 Spring Valley travels to Ona for a rematch with No. 2 Cabell Midland.
Related: W.Va. Playoff Preview – Class AAA
The two teams met at Timberwolf Stadium in Huntington with the visiting Knights escaping with a 28-21 victory. The Timberwolves sports a stingy defense that’s posted five shutouts and has allowed double digits in points only three times all season.
Cabell Midland
Cabell Midland has the best resume thus far in terms of quality wins, knocking off a number of playoff participants in convincing fashion. Both teams are looking for their first championship trophy.
One team that isn’t is Martinsburg. The defending champion Bulldogs have seven to their credit, including the previous three. They sport a 54-game winning streak, an absurd margin of victory average and have yet to be challenged.
That leaves the seemingly impossible task to Parkersburg South, which makes the lengthy trek to the Eastern Panhandle on Saturday afternoon.
Closer Look
And now, a closer look at these two matchups.
South and Martinsburg have met three times in the Class AAA postseason with the Patriots owning a 2-1 record, including a 26-20 victory in the 2003 state championship game.
That’s the last and only time South has won a state football title. The Pats bested the Bulldogs in the 2002 playoffs but lost to them 43-21 in 2001.
Martinsburg Teams
But those Martinsburg teams are a shell of the juggernaut that has owned Class AAA since 2010, winning seven of the last nine titles. In fact, a win on the Island this year gives the Bulldogs their second four-peat, as they were victorious from 2010-2013. They enter the game with an average margin of victory of 61.1 to 6.8. They’ve scored the most and surrendered the least amount of points of any team, regardless of class, alive or eliminated from the playoffs.
Against Spring Mills, both Kevon Warren and Jarod Bowie eclipsed the 100-yard mark as Martinsburg erupted for a 49-0 halftime lead en route to a 70-0 route—seven points shy of its 77-0 victory against Spring Mills during the regular season.
South, meanwhile, had to rally to get past Musselman, trailing by 10 at the half and leading only 31-27 after three. Brandon Penn ran for two scores, threw another and returned a pick-six to spark the Patriots.
One thing going for South is it averages nearly 45 points per game. The downside, statistically, is the Patriots give up nearly 20 points per game—not the best stats when facing a team that has scored 60 or more points seven times.
Unlike the opposite side of the bracket, neither Spring Valley nor Cabell Midland has won a state title. The Timberwolves have lost the last three, all to Martinsburg. The Bulldogs also bested the Knights in their lone title game appearance in 2012.
Both consolidated schools, however, have championships one by their forebears.
Ceredo-Kenova, Buffalo Wayne and Vinson joined to form Spring Valley. The Wonders were once one of the most dominant programs in the Mountain State, winning 11 championships. Vinson had five and even Buffalo managed one.
For Cabell Midland, Barboursville won a championship while Minton finished as runner-up one year.
Here and Now
Back to the here and now, the Timberwolves boast the second-best defense statistically in Class AAA, surrendering only 7.1 points per game. They also have the lowest-output scoring offense at 33.9 ppg.
The Knights’ J.J. Roberts scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to help his team hang on against No. 7 George Washington, 28-18. It was Cabell’s sixth win against a playoff team this season.
Spring Valley, meanwhile, made quick work of Capital, shutting out the Cougars for the second time this season in a 30-0 triumph. Luke Christopher had two rushing touchdowns and was back by one from Nate Ellis and Brody Brumfield, who led the team on the ground with 117 yards.
This figures to be another close, hard-fought game. The big question is, will the victor have anything left in the tank for what, barring a major upset, will be a showdown with the juggernaut that is Martinsburg?
