Photo by Jay W. Bennett Wirt County senior quarterback Jake Hutchinson, left, leads the entire state with 33 touchdown passes while sophomore wide receiver Dalton Brindo paces the Mountain State with 16 touchdown receptions.

ELIZABETH — Wirt County quarterback Jake Hutchinson has burst onto the Class A football scene as a senior, but he’s far from ready to take too much credit for helping the Tigers into the Class A state quarterfinals. The No. 6 Tigers (9-2) of head coach Jason Hickman have the daunting task of hitting the road for a 7:30 p.m. affair at No. 3 Richwood (11-0) on Saturday and figuring out a way to stay alive and advance to the semifinals. Hutchinson has gone from making his third career varsity start at the beginning of the year against Valley Fayette to leading the entire state in touchdown passes with 33. The senior has completed nearly 54 percent of his passes and thrown for 2,121 yards while being picked off 13 times. Of course, the orange and black signal-caller knows he’s only as good as his teammates and he’s had a pair of pretty good wideouts snaring his aerials this season in senior Zach Cheuvront and sophomore Dalton Brindo.