PARKERSBURG - With Parkersburg High and Parkersburg Catholic having the week off and Gilmer County having to cancel on Williamstown, the lone Wood County high school football team in action this weekend was Parkersburg South hosting Robert C. Byrd.
Jon Bolen's 12th-ranked Class AAA Patriots prevailed 24-10 over No. 14 RCB at the Erickson All-Sport Facility Friday night to improve to 5-3 on the season and enhance their playoff chances with two games to go in the regular season - both on the road though at No. 16 Wheeling Park this Friday and at John Marshall Nov. 4.
Meanwhile in Class AA Friday night, fourth-ranked Roane County as well as No. 12 Ravenswood and 14th-rated Ritchie County all won convincingly to maintain their status as prime playoff contenders.
For now 7-1 Roane, senior quarterback Dylan Cottrell had a field day at the expense of host Herbert Hoover in a 48-10 victory - rushing for a school-record 320 yards; scoring six touchdowns, one on a 69-yard scamper and another on an 85-yard kickoff return; intercepting two passes; piling up 506 all-purpose yards; and even averaging 50 yards on his two punts in the game.
Ravenswood and Ritchie are both 6-2 now after posting home wins, the Red Devils clubbing Clay County 35-6 and the Rebels trampling Tyler Consolidated 40-12.
Ar Ravenswood, quarterback Dustin DeRito passed for 180 yards and running back Jeremy Lawrence rushed for 113 yards and three touchdowns while at Ellenboro, the dual-back tandem of Reno Jackson and Darrenger Goff combined for 277 yards rushing and four TDs to pace the triumph.
In Class A, six area teams were still in the playoff picture heading into the weekend, but only four played with three winning and 20th-ranked Doddridge County, now 3-6, likely dropping out of the playoff scenario after suffering a 26-0 loss to Tucker County,
Of course, on Thursday, Gilmer, beset by injuries and barely with enough bodies to even field a team, cancelled its game at No. 2 Williamstown, which declined a forfeit and remains at 7-0 on the season.
Friday at Fairmont State, third-ranked Wahama blanked Madonna 33-0 to up its mark to 8-0 as Isaac Lee, with 135 yards rushing, and Anthony Grimm each tallied two touchdowns while at Mt. Zion, visiting fourth-rated Wirt County (7-1) clobbered Calhoun County 67-18, getting off to an early 21-0 lead on three Taylor Campbell to JT Nemeth TD-pass hookups from 45, 27 and 60 yards out.
And at St. Marys, the 19th-ranked hosts, the Class A Blue Devils (4-4), stayed alive for the playoffs with a 39-14 sacking of South Harrison, with Cole White and Noah Spitzer both cracking the 100-yard rushing barrier in the win with 140 and 108 yards respectively.
In Ohio, most likely both Warren (4-5) and Waterford (5-4) will not be playoff-bound after setbacks Friday, the Warriors absorbing a 27-13 loss at Gallia Academy and the Wildcats finding tough going versus South Gallia in losing 27-7 at home to the Rebels.
In other games Friday night, Magnolia (4-4) surprised Barnesville, state-ranked in Ohio, by a 17-13 score; Dover drubbed Marietta (2-7), 55-14; Belpre tumbled to 0-9 in losing 22-7 at Miller; Ripley (3-6) dropped a close 27-20 decision to South Charleston; Federal Hocking (4-5) nipped Eastern (2-7), 20-19; Beallsville plundered Paden City (3-5), 47-14; Shenandoah stopped Fort Frye (5-4), 45-0; and Monroe Central handled Frontier (0-9), 56-6.
