September 10, 2025 • 33 mins
Greg Carey of MetroNews joins the show to discuss the first two weeks of the high school football season.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Ladies and gentlemen, grab your coffee and donuts, because it's
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head straight to the one O three to three WKMZ
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Speaker 2 (00:21):
Good morning, Good morning, good morning, and welcome in. This
is the Morning Spiel presented by Royal Water Treatment on
one O three to three WKMZ. What's up, everybody, how's
it hanging, how's it going? Good to have you back
with us for another edition of the show. We've got
a good one for you.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Today.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
We're gonna talk a little high schol football with Greg
Kerrey of wv metronews dot com. And on that note,
I know we've been pretty sports heavy this week. We've
been kind of rotating like an aabab kind of situation. Ada,
B day, A day's sports day. B day is like
entertainment day. So tomorrow will be an entertainment day. We've
got the Supergroup coming in. The Supergroup coming in, Jason
(01:00):
Young and Aristotle Jones both joining us.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Tomorrow. Excited for that.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
In the meantime, today we get to talk with Greg.
It's been a great start to the high school football season.
I've really enjoyed it. Obviously, listen, having a game suspended
is not amazing, But outside of that, I mean, I
think it's been I think it's been a lot of fun.
I think we've got some really good Harrison County teams.
Of course, Bridgeport is looking like they might be favored
(01:25):
to win it all one more time. South Harrison is
two and zero. I think RCB is a very solid
one and one, and Lincoln is very close to not
being zero and two. They are are a couple of
miss two point conversions away. One of those go and
might be talking about them in South Harrison or each
one and one. So great start to the season I've
(01:46):
been enjoying. Also following along with the Marion County schools
Fairmont Senior, North Marion East Fairmont, they are a combined
to start the season.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
What three and one, four and one?
Speaker 2 (01:57):
I think it's four and one, well, the one loss
being Fairmount lost to open up the season. Now, of
course they play Bridgeport this week, so that'll be tough.
But we are going to get into all sorts of
high school football talk coming up today, so hopefully you'll
stick around for that and use this as a reminder
to let you know that the week two recap of
the Friday Free for All pod we now do an
e special exclusive podcast only recap of each week of
(02:20):
high school football me and Chris Johnson. That is posted
already as well. I was published yesterday on the Friday
Free for All podcasting page, and of course you can
access that however you want to access that, you can
go to a couple of different spots, but Spreaker app
is the home base for all things Friday Free for All.
And then of course if you don't want to use
(02:41):
the Spreaker app, that's fine because you can also just
get it at your preferred podcasting platform. That's the beauty
of modern technology. There's a ubiquity like I've never seen before.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
And I love that.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
And I will say there's a fair point I love
I do love the the again, ubiquity is that word
I use there. I love that in the modern era,
and I love having access to everything that we have
access to. There is a point, though I was I
was looking at something that was rather funny. The idea
that we're losing funny. Funny is the wrong word. The
(03:13):
idea that we're losing a bit of our shared humanity
because of how much we do through I don't have
the article in front of me. It was just something
I was reading and think it was a New Yorker article,
and I didn't read the whole thing.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Was kind of.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Skimming or anything else, but I did think it was interesting,
the idea that we're kind of losing our shared humanity
through this basic concept of doing everything we do either
in front of our screen, whether it be a computer
screen or a phone screen, you know, ordering groceries. Now,
I will say a couple of valid points I thought
were made. There was, you know, someone who mentioned something like,
you could save if you do it every single week,
(03:51):
or if you do it every other week or whatever,
you can save somewhere between like fifty and one hundred
hours from not grocery shopping, and so. On the one hand,
that's that's legit, and I'm with that. On the other hand,
if you're someone who enjoys grocery shopping, go go do
grocery shopping.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Here's what I think.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
I think we live really busy lives these days, right,
Like the nature of the way things have gotten, We're
just we're going from one place to another. We're bouncing
all over the place doing all sorts of things.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
We're busy. I'm busy. I know I'm busy.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
I'm sure you're busy too. I am sure we are
all feeling the stretch right now. And so sometimes, listen,
I do like to pick my own produce. I'm not
going to lie about that. And when I have the
time to cook, I want to pick the things that
I am going to cook. But otherwise otherwise, when i'm
like last week was, and this is always this way,
the first couple of weeks of like the last week
(04:44):
of August through like the third week of September, that
four week stretch, I think I do more broadcasts than
I do all year, right, Like that's my biggest four
week stretch. I'm pretty sure I could be wrong about that,
but I mean, it's been intense. It's been really intense.
I didn't have a choice, man, Like, I had to
go and do it. And so I don't know, I
feel like everyone's got to do what fits best for themselves.
(05:05):
Some folks are able to have a parent who doesn't
a parent or a householder. We're not all parents, of course,
I'm not who goes out and does the does the
shopping and and can do that. And that's great. And
in my case, we both work full time. We both
kind of bounce around. She has a hybrid schedule. I'm
sort of all over the place.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
So I don't know.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
I get I get the concept that like if we're
not just going out and doing things and enjoying stopping
to smell the roses, we're not. We're not we're not
enjoying our shared humanity. But but I think the one
thing I will take from that is the problem is
not us. The problem is that there's not enough time
to go out and smell the roses anymore. I think
that's the real issue here. That's that's where I would
(05:49):
say the biggest concerned, like we need we need to
stop and enjoy ourselves from time to time. That's to
me more the bigger issue than anything else. We just
can't do that. It doesn't happen anymore. Who's got the
time to do that? If you do, I'm jealous, and
I want to know your secret. If it's make a
ton of money, I have bad news. I went into
the wrong profession. I'm pretty sure for that or if
(06:09):
I if I didn't, I'm not good enough to get
into the the the top earner spots at this moment
in time.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Now, I kid, I kid, it's tough.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
This.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
We've reached this kind of wild era where I think, again,
there's just there's no time to do anything.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
And I understand, like the.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Rise of remote work and the rise of remote doing
stuff with like ordering your groceries online, picking them up, whatever,
whatever that may be, that has that arise out of
a need, out of a necessity during COVID, But I
still think there's there's that need now because we're.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
All so busy. I don't know about you.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
I just don't have time to stop and enjoy, Like
how many times we'll be outside with the dogs. My
girlfriend will go, man, be just a great Can we
have class outside today? It was her her little running joke,
and my thought is, I'd love to Who's time for that?
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Who's time for that?
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Anyway, let's go ahead and get to our first break.
We'll get to the news and sports headlines coming up
on the other side. For radio listeners, for podcast listeners,
we go straight into the main segment and we either
way we all meet back up during the main segment.
One way or another, we'll take a break back after this.
Yere on the Morning Spiel presented by Royal Water Treatment
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(07:21):
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Speaker 1 (07:25):
Improving do start to your day with the Morning Spiel
weekdays on one three three WKMZ.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
I have now got Greg Carry with us, a sports
reporter from Metro News. He's a busy guy, does a
little bit of everything.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
WVU high School.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
I should say WU football and then differentially that with
WU Olympic Sports because he does all of that as well.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
But Greg, what's up man? How you doing? E?
Speaker 4 (07:47):
Thing's good man? Just busy back into the swing of things.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Yeah, it's the first two weeks of September are kind
of brutal, unforgiving, if you will, And we are through
the first two weeks officially of high school football season.
It took a little extra time. South Harrison and Lincoln,
very close to home, felt like the center of the
high school football universe. Actually in West Virginia. I saw
(08:12):
one of wdtv's sports anchors who normally wouldn't be able
to make it out.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
I saw Joe Bercado was there.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
I saw a couple of folks from the metro side
of things that we had two radio broadcasts.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Of course, it was.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
The only football game going on in the state of
West Virginia at the time, and it lasted all of
fifty six minutes. But with that Week two finally in
the books, any big surprises for you as we look
ahead to week three? But any big surprises for you
out of the first two weeks of the season.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
I mean, just generally off the surface.
Speaker 5 (08:40):
I mean, Martinsburg being owned two is probably the thing
that catches everybody's eye. But I would be a little
bit reluctant to discount the Bulldogs or you know, think
that they're not capable of playing, you know, well into
December and maybe even winning another state championship. Obviously, last
week's game with Huntington could have gone either way. But
you know, the Bulldogs were handled at home by a
(09:02):
very good Camden, New Jersey program in the opening week,
So you know, Martinsburg maybe not being quite as dominant,
or maybe even nearly as dominant.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
That's what it normally is.
Speaker 5 (09:13):
Obviously, you're not accustomed to seeing them really ever having
a losing record, nonetheless a losing record after just two games.
But you know, it's a team that I would expect,
especially under coach Dave Walker, to can make continued progress
throughout the season. And you know, let's not forget they
have played two top tier opponents and they'll still probably
(09:34):
get a crack at another few, so we'll see what
kind of strives they can make. But obviously not off
to the start that we are accustomed to seeing, you know,
a program that generally is winning nine or ten games
throughout the regular season on an annual basis.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
You know, locally, Bridgeport has obviously just played one of
these opponents as well in Heritage Virginia. They've got another
one coming up with Fort Hill, Maryland. But I am curious,
have you gotten a vibe from anyone you've talked to
in the coaching circles is this kind of progresses It
seems like it's only going to get more so. I
mean there's always been out of state opponents. There always
will be out of state opponents. It's always going to
(10:07):
be necessary. But have you gotten a vibe at all
about some of these really long agreements, long trips, some
of these bigger opponents. I mean, what was the I
think Huntington played the six A team from Tennessee a
couple couple of weeks ago in Week one. Have you
got a vibe from how coaches actually feel about this, Like,
do they like the challenge and the test or is
(10:27):
this a product of not being able to schedule ten
games in West Virginia.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
I think it's a mixture of both.
Speaker 5 (10:33):
I think, you know, in the case of certain programs, yes,
they do relish the challenge, and.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
Even if it means maybe taking one.
Speaker 5 (10:39):
On the chin or at least coming up short, certainly
that's not what they aspire to do. But they also
know that their team is capable of growing from it
and learning from it and seeing what it's like to
go up against, as you mentioned, maybe a defending five
or six A state champion from Tennessee or a power
from New Jersey program or you know, in the case
of Bridgeport last week, I know they were pretty comfortably
(11:00):
ahead when the game was halted in the third quarter,
but still a very quality win for the tribe against
a very good heritage program out of Virginia. And we
know Bridgeport will have another one of those tests later
on this season when they play the number one generally
single a program out of Maryland and Ford Hills. So,
you know, I think for some of the elite programs
You're Wheeling Centrals, your Bridgeports, you know, your Huntington's and
(11:21):
your Martinsburg's, it's.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
It is tough to find, you know.
Speaker 5 (11:25):
Nonetheless, not even ten games, maybe even seven or eight games.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
Nowadays in state.
Speaker 5 (11:29):
And yes, there are conference by laws and some of
those stipulate that you know, you've got to play X
amount of teams within your conference, but there is still
some freedom within you know, a few games outside of
the conference. Kind of look at it from like like
you would a college football schedule. You know, there are
going to be the ability for these schools to play
upwards of two, three or four games that has nothing
(11:51):
to do with their conference. What they choose to do
with that. I'm not sure that they always want to
go out of the state to do it, but sometimes,
especially in case of your schools like Martinsburg and Huntington,
which are located very close to other multiple other states.
You know, it just makes a little bit sense more logistically.
You know, no one really would blink when Martinsburg plays Huntington,
(12:11):
but that's a six plus hour trip for Martinsburg. You know,
they could go to ample high schools in Maryland, Virginia
or Pennsylvania and far quicker than they could make it.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Donington, you were at the RCB Fairmont Senior game, and
you know, obviously Fairmont Senior takes care of business in
a game where you know, it was close for a bit,
and Fairmont Senior kind of put it into high gear
as the game went on. I'm kind of curious though,
is obviously the first game of Mark Sampson's career as
a as a head coach, and this is an RCB
(12:40):
team that I think should have higher expectations for this
season compared to where they've been the last couple of years.
That's not a program that's accustomed to multiple losing seasons
in a row, and they've had that, even though they
did get into the playoffs last year. What did you
make of both teams now having seen them?
Speaker 5 (12:57):
Yeah, I thought that this or wasn't exactly indicative of
the game. I thought Fairmont was the superior side and
that I thought they right for me won, But for Bird,
you know, I think i'd be kind of curious a
couple of days after that game to get a little
bit more reaction from their side, because you know, it
was a game of missed opportunity, particularly in the first half.
(13:18):
And I agree with you, I think Bird's a little better.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
Than they've been. I think getting some of these kids.
Speaker 5 (13:24):
You know, from Liberties program and adding to their depth
and increasing the competition at certain positions is beneficial. They've
got decent size on their line, not an abundance of
size among the skill players, but they do have solid
speed and some really solid high school football players on
the edge. But they were in the red zone three
times in the first half and never scored. And you know,
(13:44):
their only points at halftime came off of a poor
punch snap that resulted in a safety.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
But I believe I have to go back through a
look at my notes.
Speaker 5 (13:52):
I believe at halftime of that game, I only had
Fairmont with about forty plus forty to forty five more
yards than Bird. It was something in that one forty
to one hundred range for total yardage and you know,
that's usually a fairly good metric.
Speaker 4 (14:03):
To kind of see.
Speaker 5 (14:05):
Okay, you know, maybe if a team's getting out gained
by one hundred and fifty but they're leaving, you know,
living off turnovers or the other team's mistakes for a half,
well that's kind of hard to rely on that formula
for the long haul.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
But that's not exactly what Bird was doing.
Speaker 5 (14:17):
And then ultimately in the second half, Fairmount cleaned up
their execution. They got the ball on the perimeter to
their skill guys, and Bird had a little bit more
difficult time. I thought of just holding the edge defensively,
and I think part of it was Bird's defense started
getting worn down because their offense is inability to sustain
drives and maintain possession and keep the ball. You know,
(14:37):
they would have it and maybe do a couple of
good things, get a first down, break off a long play,
then they'd take a negative play or a penalty, set
themselves back, you know, put themselves in an unfavorable down.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
And distance situation.
Speaker 5 (14:47):
But overall, Fairmlind I would expect, you know, I still
think they've got work to do, certainly to get to
the top of triple A.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
Ie.
Speaker 5 (14:56):
You know to catch Bridgeport, but I do think that
there is the Knicks behind Bridgeport, along with any other
team across the state and Triple A. I know, Princeton
is probably in most people's minds regarded as number two
in that classification. Now that's where they come in in
our latest power rankings, and rightfully so.
Speaker 4 (15:13):
They've you know, handled Capital.
Speaker 5 (15:15):
And handled Bluefield to this point, and the Tigers look
to have a very potent offense and a pretty stingy defense.
But I would say, when all is said and done,
you know, you stack up these teams behind Bridgeport, maybe
Princeton's number two, Fairmount three, you know, Nitro Herbhoover obviously
somewhere in there, and then maybe beyond that you look
at North Marion and Elkins and Spring Valley kind of
(15:36):
running out that top seven or eight. But you know,
it's it's a Fairmont team that's got a big boost
now quarterback with Anthony Smith coming in from Pittsburgh and
being only a sophomore, he looked pretty steady, has an
offer already from Syracuse as well as a couple FCS schools,
So you know, it's a pretty kind of threw a
wrench into some plans that Fairmont Senior had. When you
get somebody like that who basically arrives on campus just
(15:59):
a couple of weeks before school starts and kind of
changes the outlook of your entire offense.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
In north central West Virginia, two schools I'd love to
get your take on to start this season, Doddridge County
and South Harrison, the two smallest schools in Class Double A. Now,
obviously Doddridge has the advantage of, you know, we've seen
the facility that they have put together, so they're probably
not your traditional smallest school in a classification. And South
(16:24):
Harrison certainly has a pretty unique identity that has helped
them figure out how to win football games. But they
are combined four and oh to start. They'll meet later
on this season. There is an outside possibility they could
both be undefeated when they meet later on this season.
I don't want to look too far ahead, but more
individually on these two teams, and starting probably with Doddridge County,
who's had two dominant wins to open the season, including
(16:46):
a very long road trip I think their longest of
the season down to Liberty Rally. Thoughts on these two
to start the year as they are making off to
a really good start despite being the two smallest in
class Double A.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (17:00):
I mean for Doddage County, it's just been you know,
this is a decade plus now. They've had a pretty
established culture and established identity run the ball, they generally
can mix in some play action passing and they're always
a stout defensive team. Look no further than the first
two games of this season, I know the competition is
going to.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
Stiffen up starting in week three.
Speaker 5 (17:19):
You know, in the Bulldogs matchup with Tyler consolidated, it
looks to be a pretty solid team themselves. But Doddridge
has only allowed six points in two games. You know, Body,
Burnside's teams are always fundamentally sound. They tackle well, they
get to the ball, they play hard, they play together.
So you know, not necessarily a surprise whatsoever to see
Doddridge post two lopsided wins to start the season, but
(17:39):
as you mentioned, certainly an encouraging sign for the Bulldogs
and a lot of the guys that have been responsible
for some of that recent success are no longer a round.
So obviously anytime you're working in some new starters and
maybe less experienced players, eager to see how they respond
to that challenge. Early in the case of the Bulldogs,
it's been a very positive response. But I do think
it's fair to say that throughout the next month plus
(18:01):
you're going to learn a lot more about Dodridge and
whether maybe they're somewhere in that you know, three to
five range as a double a team, or closer in
the six to ten range. And I think starting Friday,
with the matchup against Tyler consolidated, you'll kind of formulate
a better idea, and then a couple of weeks after
that they're going to be playing a really potent Petersburg
team that has passed the ball but as well as
(18:22):
any team in the state thus far the season. You
mentioned there's a mid October matchup with South Harrison and
then obviously later in the season Dodders still plays Williamstown
and a very unique ad to their schedule this year,
I believe they have a game with Mingo Central.
Speaker 4 (18:34):
It's all about the regular season, so that'll be.
Speaker 5 (18:36):
Another lengthy trip to southern West Virginia, but really a
good measuring stick. I mean, that's a Mingo Central team
that's off to a two and zero start themselves, and
has to be feeling pretty good after they've picked up
wins over both Tug Valley and most recently West Side.
So you know, Bobby Burnside has changed a couple of
things on the schedule, gone outside the LKC and making
some far trips to kind of try to bring his
(18:56):
team together. In the case of South Harrison, it's obviously
a pretty thrilling win that they were able to wrap
up Monday night. They hold Lincoln on a two point conversion.
They run the clock out, which is pretty much the
exact and ideal way that you know, coach Brett Hathaway
would like to end that game, just continuing to pick
up four and five yards on the ground, letting thirty
plus seconds run off the clock in between each play,
(19:17):
and then before you know it, twelve thirteen plays later,
you've got two and zero in the bag.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
And I think, you know, South Harrison.
Speaker 5 (19:24):
You would expect them this week to be able to
take care Richie County, but they are at a disadvantage,
obviously having only a few days to prepare for that
game and a few days to recover from a half
a football that was played Monday against Lincoln, So got
to be careful there to make sure that you don't
let up and you're able to kind of handle business
and get the three and oh. And then as you mentioned,
I mean, the Hawks had some pretty winnable games, you know,
(19:45):
coming up on their schedule as well, with Poka and
Clay County before in.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
Early October matchup with Philip Barber.
Speaker 5 (19:51):
But I think, just like you know in the case
of Doddridge County, I do think you'll learn a little
bit more about them, particularly in two of these next
three games.
Speaker 4 (19:59):
I think it's to say that, you know, you still.
Speaker 5 (20:01):
May have some questions how legitimate or not South Harrison's
record could be. Assuming that they are able to take
care of a Richie County and a PoCA and maybe
even the Clay County to get the five and oh,
then your first true toughest test would probably be that
early October matchup against Philip Barber, which comes one week
before the Hawks would be playing Doddridge County. But certainly
(20:23):
when you consider some of what South Harrison has lost
and some of what they've had to replace, being tough
and o holding your first two opponents to fifteen and
nineteen points respectively, right half the way, I would imagine
it is pretty encouraged with it.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Yeah, and that is a Braxton County team that is
definitely much improved. They dropped forty nine in week two
in a win, and you alluded to that first week
performance holding them to fifteen. One quick note on Doddridge,
so that that game coming up with Tyler Consolidated is
really interesting to me.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
What have you heard?
Speaker 2 (20:50):
I haven't heard anything about how that Tyler Ohama game
went other than looking at the score and kind of
doing a double take, because of course Mohamma dropped seventy
nine the first week of the season and then Tyler consolidated.
Who every time I've seen them play, they play really hard. Uh,
this is a program that has beaten Doddridge County in
the last couple of seasons. Is this is this a
(21:12):
scenario where I mean, how big of a test is
this for for Doddridge in this case? Is this Tyler
team as good as that outcome looks against Wahama where
they hold them to twenty eight.
Speaker 4 (21:21):
I think I think Tyler's a pretty solid team.
Speaker 5 (21:24):
They've you know, they've proven over the last several years
that you know, they're winning program. As you mentioned, They've
had some good battles and cells with Doddridge. So these
two teams are obviously not familiar, you know, not unfamiliar,
I should say, with one another. And you know, that'll
probably be a pretty interesting matchup. I would expect a
relatively competitive game regardless of which way it goes. But
you know, I still think it's fair to question Tyler two. Yes,
(21:45):
they only lost the two took my two touchdowns to
an outstanding Ohama team in their opening game. They handled
Richie County pretty easily, just as Doddridge County did a
week ago. But you know, this is a Tyler team
that now you're getting into the gauntlet of your schedule here,
starting with this Week three matchup again Dodge, because afterwards
you've got some games coming up against both Petersburg and Cameron.
In October they also face Oaklen and South Harrison, and
(22:07):
then they closed the year with Roan County. So if
Tyler consolidated is able to navigate that schedule and finished
with a winning record, it probably will garner some attention. Unquestionably,
it would leave them with a playoff berth. They you know,
with that schedule, they may be able to get into
the playoffs with a five hundred record, because almost certainly
they're playing at least six or.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
Seven playoff teams.
Speaker 5 (22:28):
So you know, the Sober Knights are going to be
a well tested group and very eager to see how.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
That game plays out Friday.
Speaker 5 (22:33):
I would expect it to be a pretty significant challenge
that both Doddridge and Tyler posed to one another.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Yeah, last question for you. You just you just hit
on something that I am curious about. And of course
we're not going to see our first playoff ratings until
Tuesday of next week, and I highly recommend folks don't
take them as the gospel in week three. But it
does lead me to a question that I know we
are in a new era where in a four classification system.
You know, in the old days, there was a period
(23:00):
of time where in single A you would wonder, is
eight wins enough to get in if your schedule, like,
if you're not beating the right opponents in single A,
single A was it? You know, seven wins might get
you in, and you're gonna be you know, for your
for your trouble in single A of winning seven out
of ten games, you're gonna be going on the road
somewhere somewhere potentially very far. And you know, I think
(23:21):
this is something that we have to get used to
across every classification now, is that the expectations of how
one gets in have changed a little bit. What do
you think at this point, based on the current structure,
what gets a team at least in and playing in
that extra game.
Speaker 5 (23:39):
Yeah, it's gonna, you know, depend on class Obviously, with
only twenty schools in four A, you're gonna have, you know,
numerous teams probably you're ten through sixteen seeds. You know,
we'll be lucky to have five wins plus, so you know,
you're gonna have a lot of schools.
Speaker 4 (23:53):
You're with only four missing.
Speaker 5 (23:54):
The playoffs and the postseason for four A, you know,
your twelve through sixteen seeds could certainly look like and
seven and two and eight you know teams.
Speaker 4 (24:02):
But obviously in the other classes, largely.
Speaker 5 (24:04):
In Triple A and Double A in particular, you know,
most teams, I do think that we'll qualify for the
playoffs this year will have to have a winning record.
There will be some exceptions, and that's where playing a
challenging schedule, you know, is now an added bonus. The
SSAC has put more of an emphasis on it with
the playoff formula and rewarding teams for going out and
scheduling tougher opponents. So I would think that, you know,
(24:25):
there'll be very few, if any teams this year statewide
that have a winning record that aren't in the playoffs.
If there are some, it's probably going to be in
the case of, you know, your five and four six
and four range. Maybe in some of the smaller classifications
that have more schools, But I think generally speaking, if
you're a high school football program across West Virginia and
any of the three smaller classes in particular, five to
(24:48):
six wins more often than not is going to get
you into the postseason.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Yeah, I haven't looked at it closely enough. The thing
that made me think about this question was, I know
RCB obviously, I think Elkins got in with five wins
last year. RCB got in with four wins Lincoln. Had
they switched to the when the legal challenge was going on,
Lincoln would have gotten in with three wins under one scenario.
And the reason this kind of popped into my head
is I'm wondering about how are coaches doing this now
(25:15):
in terms of do they have a set number in
mind of how many wins do I want to have
on my schedule from the opponent or how many playoff
opponents theoretically do I want to have on my schedule.
And I don't know if that's something you've had a
chance to talk with coaches about or if there's been
a precedent for how they've done that historically before we
changed in system. But I think with the constant changes
(25:37):
that has been on my mind a lot lately is
what scheduling quirks. Folks are folks in the coaching circles
looking at as far as trying to maximize their ability
to get in Yeah.
Speaker 5 (25:48):
And you know that oftentimes too is where we talked about.
You know, conference memberships and conference bylaws, those also come
into play because you know, for example, Little Canala Conference,
you're going to obviously be playing X amount of teams
from the LKC. In the case of a South Harrison
or a Dodgage County. For a Bridgeport or Robert C.
Bird or Fairmont Senior, you're going to be playing you know,
half of your schedule a little bit more of it
(26:11):
on an annual.
Speaker 4 (26:11):
Basis against Big Ten opponents.
Speaker 5 (26:13):
But you know, when you look at a team like
bridge Ford, that's where you get a little bit of
a benefit to here next week. For example, in Week four,
they're going to be playing Philip Barbara. Sure, that's a
game you expect Bridgeport to win, but they'll get a
lot more out of playing Philip Barber than they win
a lot of other teams in the Big Ten because
Philip Barber looks like is headed for another winning season
and another playoffs burst. So I do think there's a
fine balance there. Obviously, you want to cite a team
(26:35):
like Bridgeport that put a running clock on everybody last year.
This year they went and beefed up what you know,
they perceive to be a more challenging schedule and what
I would say most people believe to be a more
challenging schedule. In the case of the Tribe, they went
out of state to do it, and we'll be playing
both Fort Hill, Maryland and they're recently completed matchup in
Week two with Heritage Virginia. But you know, you don't
want to distantarily just go overload and play eight or
(26:58):
nine teams. But I do think, especially if you're a coach,
that believes your program is capable of contending for state
championship with the highest level. You certainly want to be
playing at least half of your schedule against playoff caliber teams.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
That's a that's a perfect way to answer that question, Greg,
much appreciated man. Tell the folks where they can find
I know there's I've been reading a lot of your
work lately, and I'm not even going to bother asking
about WVU because it just it feels very it feels
all very grim. But tell the folks where they can
find the myriad and copious amounts of your writing.
Speaker 5 (27:31):
Yeah, everything's at wv metro news dot com, just you know,
marked off by each specific sport through WVU and high school.
And we'll have coverage a lot of games state wide.
I know fair Mount Senior impressed and playing this upcoming Thursday.
We'll have that game covered and I'll actually be heading
to Herbert Hoover on Friday as you get a look
at the Nitro Herbert Hoover matchup.
Speaker 4 (27:51):
So very nice. I took that out of our website.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Very that's a great, great early season matchup, very intriguing,
all right, Greg, much appreciated man.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
We'll talk with you soon.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
All right, No problem, Thanks loving that'll do it for
our main segment today. I want to remind folks before
we go to break that two things going on. One,
I wanted to chat with Greg because I just you know,
he sees a lot of high school football and I
really I like getting his take from time to time
on what he sees because he is around the whole
(28:21):
state for starters, too. Want to remind folks that if
you're wondering where Chris Johnson is, so every week now
we're recording a high school football recap pod. It can
be about twenty to thirty minutes and you don't have
to go anywhere. Friday Free for All show that we
do on Friday mornings has a podcast already and you
can now just find that extra extra special recap each
(28:43):
week at the Friday Free for All podcast on either
the speaker platform or your preferred podcasting platform. So if
you're a high school football not like me, go check
that out. It'll be good. And that way also as well,
when we have the show on Fridays, we spend a
lot of time time talking about tonight's action that night.
We don't get to do as much on what happened
(29:04):
the previous week, because it's already been a week at
that point, so now you get a more complete conversation.
That way, you get what happened the week before around Tuesday,
and you get the preview of that night's action on
Friday morning. All right, on that note, we'll take a
quick break. We're back on the other side to wrap
the show.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
Here.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
This is the Morning Spiel, presented by Royal Water.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Treatment of one of three to three to be a KMZ.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
Never miss an episode. Recorded versions of the Morning Spiel
are online at wkmznews dot com.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
All Right, folks, were just at the we're at the
tail end of things here.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
We had a good show today. I thought we had
a good show today. I always kind of think we
have a good show.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
There are some days where I'll be like, man, man,
that wasn't.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
That wasn't for me. Today I messed up what I'm hoping.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
I was talking about this during the first segment of
the show today. I was I was talking a little
bit about like the concept of you know, who has
time for anything anymore? And so we're all really really
busy doing a million different things. I am a big believer. Listen,
I'm a big believer. I think we should, like the
workday should be reduced to like six hours, Like I
think I'd be better off working like like I think
(30:08):
a thirty hour work week is probably where we should
be five days, six hours, or maybe it should be
seven and a half hours four days. But one of
the things I have found is like, and I'm a
lot less effective after a certain point, like I'm I
do my best work, Like an hour is like two
through four the prime part of my day hour one,
(30:29):
it's like I'm settling in. I gotta get stuff done,
but I'm kind of planning out my.
Speaker 3 (30:33):
Day the last few hours.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
You know, you're getting some work done, but not a
creative like once I hit hours like seven in, I'm
not doing a lot.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
But that's the thing.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
We're all super busy right now, and that's that's sort
of that's the basic premise behind this show, by the way,
and why we don't do a lot on the news
of that. I mean, sometimes we do, but I will
tell you from my perspective that I really enjoy talking.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
About sports and entertainment and.
Speaker 2 (30:59):
All the things that we that make life worth living
in the first place.
Speaker 3 (31:04):
So whether that be high school football.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
Or or your kid is in a play, or you
want to go see something a show at the Robinson Grant.
To me, those are the things that make life fun
in the first place. So that's why we try to
focus on those things on this show specifically for that reason,
because I think that's that's what we're doing here. You know,
that is what we're doing here. We're supposed to be
enjoying ourselves, in my opinion. I guess I can't say
(31:30):
definitively that everybody's supposed to feel that way, but I
think we're supposed to be here to have fun, to
enjoy ourselves. I get that there are real world issues
going on out there, and you know you have to
deal with them. But my hope is that my show
is like a one hour oasis in the desert. It's
a it's a it's a resting point for you before
you have to go on and hear all the political
(31:51):
sides yelling at one another over this, that and the
other thing. And again, it's not that it's not that
I'm without opinion on these things.
Speaker 4 (31:58):
I do.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
I have strongly held, strongly felt opinions on a lot
of these issues. But I also think part of the
coursening of the discourse is because we just keep yelling
at each other. So you don't need another one of
those on my show. You can come here and rest
a sure reckoning. We're not gonna yell at each other
unless it's about Unless it's about artificial intelligence, I will
yell about that all day. I have some real issues
(32:19):
with AI. But that's besides the point. I'm getting way
off topic here. All Right, We're low on time, so
I'll go ahead and I'll get us out of here
for the day and remind you folks that tomorrow Aristotle,
Jones and Jason Young are with us. As we're gonna
be doing.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
We're gonna be doing some super group stuff.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
I've been excited for this for a couple of days,
talking about the the We're trying to build a West
Virginia supergroup. If you'd like to help, by the way,
send your suggestions along the Morning Spiel at gmail dot com.
The Morningspiel at gmail dot com. Help us build a
West Virginia super group artistically specifically musically West Virginia super Group.
(32:58):
I have some thoughts on this. I have some real
fun We'll save it for tomorrow because we got to go.
This is the Morning Spiel presented by Royal Water Treatment.
I want to three three w k MCC tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
Folks.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
Thanks for being part of the show, and make sure
you catch the show in podcast form at the Spreak
wrapper your preferred podcasting platform
Ladies and gentlemen, grab your coffee and donuts, because it's
time for the Morning Spiel, brought to you by Royal Water.
The Athenians and topics discussed on the show do not
reflect that of WVRC Media or our advertisers. Now we
head straight to the one O three to three WKMZ
newsroom with your host, Alex Wiederspiel.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Good morning, Good morning, good morning, and welcome in. This
is the Morning Spiel presented by Royal Water Treatment on
one O three to three WKMZ. What's up, everybody, how's
it hanging, how's it going? Good to have you back
with us for another edition of the show. We've got
a good one for you.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Today.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
We're gonna talk a little high schol football with Greg
Kerrey of wv metronews dot com. And on that note,
I know we've been pretty sports heavy this week. We've
been kind of rotating like an aabab kind of situation. Ada,
B day, A day's sports day. B day is like
entertainment day. So tomorrow will be an entertainment day. We've
got the Supergroup coming in. The Supergroup coming in, Jason
(01:00):
Young and Aristotle Jones both joining us.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Tomorrow. Excited for that.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
In the meantime, today we get to talk with Greg.
It's been a great start to the high school football season.
I've really enjoyed it. Obviously, listen, having a game suspended
is not amazing, But outside of that, I mean, I
think it's been I think it's been a lot of fun.
I think we've got some really good Harrison County teams.
Of course, Bridgeport is looking like they might be favored
(01:25):
to win it all one more time. South Harrison is
two and zero. I think RCB is a very solid
one and one, and Lincoln is very close to not
being zero and two. They are are a couple of
miss two point conversions away. One of those go and
might be talking about them in South Harrison or each
one and one. So great start to the season I've
(01:46):
been enjoying. Also following along with the Marion County schools
Fairmont Senior, North Marion East Fairmont, they are a combined
to start the season.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
What three and one, four and one?
Speaker 2 (01:57):
I think it's four and one, well, the one loss
being Fairmount lost to open up the season. Now, of
course they play Bridgeport this week, so that'll be tough.
But we are going to get into all sorts of
high school football talk coming up today, so hopefully you'll
stick around for that and use this as a reminder
to let you know that the week two recap of
the Friday Free for All pod we now do an
e special exclusive podcast only recap of each week of
(02:20):
high school football me and Chris Johnson. That is posted
already as well. I was published yesterday on the Friday
Free for All podcasting page, and of course you can
access that however you want to access that, you can
go to a couple of different spots, but Spreaker app
is the home base for all things Friday Free for All.
And then of course if you don't want to use
(02:41):
the Spreaker app, that's fine because you can also just
get it at your preferred podcasting platform. That's the beauty
of modern technology. There's a ubiquity like I've never seen before.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
And I love that.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
And I will say there's a fair point I love
I do love the the again, ubiquity is that word
I use there. I love that in the modern era,
and I love having access to everything that we have
access to. There is a point, though I was I
was looking at something that was rather funny. The idea
that we're losing funny. Funny is the wrong word. The
(03:13):
idea that we're losing a bit of our shared humanity
because of how much we do through I don't have
the article in front of me. It was just something
I was reading and think it was a New Yorker article,
and I didn't read the whole thing.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Was kind of.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Skimming or anything else, but I did think it was interesting,
the idea that we're kind of losing our shared humanity
through this basic concept of doing everything we do either
in front of our screen, whether it be a computer
screen or a phone screen, you know, ordering groceries. Now,
I will say a couple of valid points I thought
were made. There was, you know, someone who mentioned something like,
you could save if you do it every single week,
(03:51):
or if you do it every other week or whatever,
you can save somewhere between like fifty and one hundred
hours from not grocery shopping, and so. On the one hand,
that's that's legit, and I'm with that. On the other hand,
if you're someone who enjoys grocery shopping, go go do
grocery shopping.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Here's what I think.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
I think we live really busy lives these days, right,
Like the nature of the way things have gotten, We're
just we're going from one place to another. We're bouncing
all over the place doing all sorts of things.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
We're busy. I'm busy. I know I'm busy.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
I'm sure you're busy too. I am sure we are
all feeling the stretch right now. And so sometimes, listen,
I do like to pick my own produce. I'm not
going to lie about that. And when I have the
time to cook, I want to pick the things that
I am going to cook. But otherwise otherwise, when i'm
like last week was, and this is always this way,
the first couple of weeks of like the last week
(04:44):
of August through like the third week of September, that
four week stretch, I think I do more broadcasts than
I do all year, right, Like that's my biggest four
week stretch. I'm pretty sure I could be wrong about that,
but I mean, it's been intense. It's been really intense.
I didn't have a choice, man, Like, I had to
go and do it. And so I don't know, I
feel like everyone's got to do what fits best for themselves.
(05:05):
Some folks are able to have a parent who doesn't
a parent or a householder. We're not all parents, of course,
I'm not who goes out and does the does the
shopping and and can do that. And that's great. And
in my case, we both work full time. We both
kind of bounce around. She has a hybrid schedule. I'm
sort of all over the place.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
So I don't know.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
I get I get the concept that like if we're
not just going out and doing things and enjoying stopping
to smell the roses, we're not. We're not we're not
enjoying our shared humanity. But but I think the one
thing I will take from that is the problem is
not us. The problem is that there's not enough time
to go out and smell the roses anymore. I think
that's the real issue here. That's that's where I would
(05:49):
say the biggest concerned, like we need we need to
stop and enjoy ourselves from time to time. That's to
me more the bigger issue than anything else. We just
can't do that. It doesn't happen anymore. Who's got the
time to do that? If you do, I'm jealous, and
I want to know your secret. If it's make a
ton of money, I have bad news. I went into
the wrong profession. I'm pretty sure for that or if
(06:09):
I if I didn't, I'm not good enough to get
into the the the top earner spots at this moment
in time.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Now, I kid, I kid, it's tough.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
This.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
We've reached this kind of wild era where I think, again,
there's just there's no time to do anything.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
And I understand, like the.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Rise of remote work and the rise of remote doing
stuff with like ordering your groceries online, picking them up, whatever,
whatever that may be, that has that arise out of
a need, out of a necessity during COVID, But I
still think there's there's that need now because we're.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
All so busy. I don't know about you.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
I just don't have time to stop and enjoy, Like
how many times we'll be outside with the dogs. My
girlfriend will go, man, be just a great Can we
have class outside today? It was her her little running joke,
and my thought is, I'd love to Who's time for that?
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Who's time for that?
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Anyway, let's go ahead and get to our first break.
We'll get to the news and sports headlines coming up
on the other side. For radio listeners, for podcast listeners,
we go straight into the main segment and we either
way we all meet back up during the main segment.
One way or another, we'll take a break back after this.
Yere on the Morning Spiel presented by Royal Water Treatment
of one of three three wkms. Go ahead, take a
deep breath, relax and enjoy. Enjoy this commercial break. Turn
(07:21):
your brain off for a minute, turn your brain off
for four minutes. We're back right after this.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Improving do start to your day with the Morning Spiel
weekdays on one three three WKMZ.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
I have now got Greg Carry with us, a sports
reporter from Metro News. He's a busy guy, does a
little bit of everything.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
WVU high School.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
I should say WU football and then differentially that with
WU Olympic Sports because he does all of that as well.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
But Greg, what's up man? How you doing? E?
Speaker 4 (07:47):
Thing's good man? Just busy back into the swing of things.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Yeah, it's the first two weeks of September are kind
of brutal, unforgiving, if you will, And we are through
the first two weeks officially of high school football season.
It took a little extra time. South Harrison and Lincoln,
very close to home, felt like the center of the
high school football universe. Actually in West Virginia. I saw
(08:12):
one of wdtv's sports anchors who normally wouldn't be able
to make it out.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
I saw Joe Bercado was there.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
I saw a couple of folks from the metro side
of things that we had two radio broadcasts.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Of course, it was.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
The only football game going on in the state of
West Virginia at the time, and it lasted all of
fifty six minutes. But with that Week two finally in
the books, any big surprises for you as we look
ahead to week three? But any big surprises for you
out of the first two weeks of the season.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
I mean, just generally off the surface.
Speaker 5 (08:40):
I mean, Martinsburg being owned two is probably the thing
that catches everybody's eye. But I would be a little
bit reluctant to discount the Bulldogs or you know, think
that they're not capable of playing, you know, well into
December and maybe even winning another state championship. Obviously, last
week's game with Huntington could have gone either way. But
you know, the Bulldogs were handled at home by a
(09:02):
very good Camden, New Jersey program in the opening week,
So you know, Martinsburg maybe not being quite as dominant,
or maybe even nearly as dominant.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
That's what it normally is.
Speaker 5 (09:13):
Obviously, you're not accustomed to seeing them really ever having
a losing record, nonetheless a losing record after just two games.
But you know, it's a team that I would expect,
especially under coach Dave Walker, to can make continued progress
throughout the season. And you know, let's not forget they
have played two top tier opponents and they'll still probably
(09:34):
get a crack at another few, so we'll see what
kind of strives they can make. But obviously not off
to the start that we are accustomed to seeing, you know,
a program that generally is winning nine or ten games
throughout the regular season on an annual basis.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
You know, locally, Bridgeport has obviously just played one of
these opponents as well in Heritage Virginia. They've got another
one coming up with Fort Hill, Maryland. But I am curious,
have you gotten a vibe from anyone you've talked to
in the coaching circles is this kind of progresses It
seems like it's only going to get more so. I
mean there's always been out of state opponents. There always
will be out of state opponents. It's always going to
(10:07):
be necessary. But have you gotten a vibe at all
about some of these really long agreements, long trips, some
of these bigger opponents. I mean, what was the I
think Huntington played the six A team from Tennessee a
couple couple of weeks ago in Week one. Have you
got a vibe from how coaches actually feel about this, Like,
do they like the challenge and the test or is
(10:27):
this a product of not being able to schedule ten
games in West Virginia.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
I think it's a mixture of both.
Speaker 5 (10:33):
I think, you know, in the case of certain programs, yes,
they do relish the challenge, and.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
Even if it means maybe taking one.
Speaker 5 (10:39):
On the chin or at least coming up short, certainly
that's not what they aspire to do. But they also
know that their team is capable of growing from it
and learning from it and seeing what it's like to
go up against, as you mentioned, maybe a defending five
or six A state champion from Tennessee or a power
from New Jersey program or you know, in the case
of Bridgeport last week, I know they were pretty comfortably
(11:00):
ahead when the game was halted in the third quarter,
but still a very quality win for the tribe against
a very good heritage program out of Virginia. And we
know Bridgeport will have another one of those tests later
on this season when they play the number one generally
single a program out of Maryland and Ford Hills. So,
you know, I think for some of the elite programs
You're Wheeling Centrals, your Bridgeports, you know, your Huntington's and
(11:21):
your Martinsburg's, it's.
Speaker 4 (11:23):
It is tough to find, you know.
Speaker 5 (11:25):
Nonetheless, not even ten games, maybe even seven or eight games.
Speaker 4 (11:28):
Nowadays in state.
Speaker 5 (11:29):
And yes, there are conference by laws and some of
those stipulate that you know, you've got to play X
amount of teams within your conference, but there is still
some freedom within you know, a few games outside of
the conference. Kind of look at it from like like
you would a college football schedule. You know, there are
going to be the ability for these schools to play
upwards of two, three or four games that has nothing
(11:51):
to do with their conference. What they choose to do
with that. I'm not sure that they always want to
go out of the state to do it, but sometimes,
especially in case of your schools like Martinsburg and Huntington,
which are located very close to other multiple other states.
You know, it just makes a little bit sense more logistically.
You know, no one really would blink when Martinsburg plays Huntington,
(12:11):
but that's a six plus hour trip for Martinsburg. You know,
they could go to ample high schools in Maryland, Virginia
or Pennsylvania and far quicker than they could make it.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Donington, you were at the RCB Fairmont Senior game, and
you know, obviously Fairmont Senior takes care of business in
a game where you know, it was close for a bit,
and Fairmont Senior kind of put it into high gear
as the game went on. I'm kind of curious though,
is obviously the first game of Mark Sampson's career as
a as a head coach, and this is an RCB
(12:40):
team that I think should have higher expectations for this
season compared to where they've been the last couple of years.
That's not a program that's accustomed to multiple losing seasons
in a row, and they've had that, even though they
did get into the playoffs last year. What did you
make of both teams now having seen them?
Speaker 5 (12:57):
Yeah, I thought that this or wasn't exactly indicative of
the game. I thought Fairmont was the superior side and
that I thought they right for me won, But for Bird,
you know, I think i'd be kind of curious a
couple of days after that game to get a little
bit more reaction from their side, because you know, it
was a game of missed opportunity, particularly in the first half.
(13:18):
And I agree with you, I think Bird's a little better.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
Than they've been. I think getting some of these kids.
Speaker 5 (13:24):
You know, from Liberties program and adding to their depth
and increasing the competition at certain positions is beneficial. They've
got decent size on their line, not an abundance of
size among the skill players, but they do have solid
speed and some really solid high school football players on
the edge. But they were in the red zone three
times in the first half and never scored. And you know,
(13:44):
their only points at halftime came off of a poor
punch snap that resulted in a safety.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
But I believe I have to go back through a
look at my notes.
Speaker 5 (13:52):
I believe at halftime of that game, I only had
Fairmont with about forty plus forty to forty five more
yards than Bird. It was something in that one forty
to one hundred range for total yardage and you know,
that's usually a fairly good metric.
Speaker 4 (14:03):
To kind of see.
Speaker 5 (14:05):
Okay, you know, maybe if a team's getting out gained
by one hundred and fifty but they're leaving, you know,
living off turnovers or the other team's mistakes for a half,
well that's kind of hard to rely on that formula
for the long haul.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
But that's not exactly what Bird was doing.
Speaker 5 (14:17):
And then ultimately in the second half, Fairmount cleaned up
their execution. They got the ball on the perimeter to
their skill guys, and Bird had a little bit more
difficult time. I thought of just holding the edge defensively,
and I think part of it was Bird's defense started
getting worn down because their offense is inability to sustain
drives and maintain possession and keep the ball. You know,
(14:37):
they would have it and maybe do a couple of
good things, get a first down, break off a long play,
then they'd take a negative play or a penalty, set
themselves back, you know, put themselves in an unfavorable down.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
And distance situation.
Speaker 5 (14:47):
But overall, Fairmlind I would expect, you know, I still
think they've got work to do, certainly to get to
the top of triple A.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
Ie.
Speaker 5 (14:56):
You know to catch Bridgeport, but I do think that
there is the Knicks behind Bridgeport, along with any other
team across the state and Triple A. I know, Princeton
is probably in most people's minds regarded as number two
in that classification. Now that's where they come in in
our latest power rankings, and rightfully so.
Speaker 4 (15:13):
They've you know, handled Capital.
Speaker 5 (15:15):
And handled Bluefield to this point, and the Tigers look
to have a very potent offense and a pretty stingy defense.
But I would say, when all is said and done,
you know, you stack up these teams behind Bridgeport, maybe
Princeton's number two, Fairmount three, you know, Nitro Herbhoover obviously
somewhere in there, and then maybe beyond that you look
at North Marion and Elkins and Spring Valley kind of
(15:36):
running out that top seven or eight. But you know,
it's it's a Fairmont team that's got a big boost
now quarterback with Anthony Smith coming in from Pittsburgh and
being only a sophomore, he looked pretty steady, has an
offer already from Syracuse as well as a couple FCS schools,
So you know, it's a pretty kind of threw a
wrench into some plans that Fairmont Senior had. When you
get somebody like that who basically arrives on campus just
(15:59):
a couple of weeks before school starts and kind of
changes the outlook of your entire offense.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
In north central West Virginia, two schools I'd love to
get your take on to start this season, Doddridge County
and South Harrison, the two smallest schools in Class Double A. Now,
obviously Doddridge has the advantage of, you know, we've seen
the facility that they have put together, so they're probably
not your traditional smallest school in a classification. And South
(16:24):
Harrison certainly has a pretty unique identity that has helped
them figure out how to win football games. But they
are combined four and oh to start. They'll meet later
on this season. There is an outside possibility they could
both be undefeated when they meet later on this season.
I don't want to look too far ahead, but more
individually on these two teams, and starting probably with Doddridge County,
who's had two dominant wins to open the season, including
(16:46):
a very long road trip I think their longest of
the season down to Liberty Rally. Thoughts on these two
to start the year as they are making off to
a really good start despite being the two smallest in
class Double A.
Speaker 4 (17:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (17:00):
I mean for Doddage County, it's just been you know,
this is a decade plus now. They've had a pretty
established culture and established identity run the ball, they generally
can mix in some play action passing and they're always
a stout defensive team. Look no further than the first
two games of this season, I know the competition is
going to.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
Stiffen up starting in week three.
Speaker 5 (17:19):
You know, in the Bulldogs matchup with Tyler consolidated, it
looks to be a pretty solid team themselves. But Doddridge
has only allowed six points in two games. You know, Body,
Burnside's teams are always fundamentally sound. They tackle well, they
get to the ball, they play hard, they play together.
So you know, not necessarily a surprise whatsoever to see
Doddridge post two lopsided wins to start the season, but
(17:39):
as you mentioned, certainly an encouraging sign for the Bulldogs
and a lot of the guys that have been responsible
for some of that recent success are no longer a round.
So obviously anytime you're working in some new starters and
maybe less experienced players, eager to see how they respond
to that challenge. Early in the case of the Bulldogs,
it's been a very positive response. But I do think
it's fair to say that throughout the next month plus
(18:01):
you're going to learn a lot more about Dodridge and
whether maybe they're somewhere in that you know, three to
five range as a double a team, or closer in
the six to ten range. And I think starting Friday,
with the matchup against Tyler consolidated, you'll kind of formulate
a better idea, and then a couple of weeks after
that they're going to be playing a really potent Petersburg
team that has passed the ball but as well as
(18:22):
any team in the state thus far the season. You
mentioned there's a mid October matchup with South Harrison and
then obviously later in the season Dodders still plays Williamstown
and a very unique ad to their schedule this year,
I believe they have a game with Mingo Central.
Speaker 4 (18:34):
It's all about the regular season, so that'll be.
Speaker 5 (18:36):
Another lengthy trip to southern West Virginia, but really a
good measuring stick. I mean, that's a Mingo Central team
that's off to a two and zero start themselves, and
has to be feeling pretty good after they've picked up
wins over both Tug Valley and most recently West Side.
So you know, Bobby Burnside has changed a couple of
things on the schedule, gone outside the LKC and making
some far trips to kind of try to bring his
(18:56):
team together. In the case of South Harrison, it's obviously
a pretty thrilling win that they were able to wrap
up Monday night. They hold Lincoln on a two point conversion.
They run the clock out, which is pretty much the
exact and ideal way that you know, coach Brett Hathaway
would like to end that game, just continuing to pick
up four and five yards on the ground, letting thirty
plus seconds run off the clock in between each play,
(19:17):
and then before you know it, twelve thirteen plays later,
you've got two and zero in the bag.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
And I think, you know, South Harrison.
Speaker 5 (19:24):
You would expect them this week to be able to
take care Richie County, but they are at a disadvantage,
obviously having only a few days to prepare for that
game and a few days to recover from a half
a football that was played Monday against Lincoln, So got
to be careful there to make sure that you don't
let up and you're able to kind of handle business
and get the three and oh. And then as you mentioned,
I mean, the Hawks had some pretty winnable games, you know,
(19:45):
coming up on their schedule as well, with Poka and
Clay County before in.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
Early October matchup with Philip Barber.
Speaker 5 (19:51):
But I think, just like you know in the case
of Doddridge County, I do think you'll learn a little
bit more about them, particularly in two of these next
three games.
Speaker 4 (19:59):
I think it's to say that, you know, you still.
Speaker 5 (20:01):
May have some questions how legitimate or not South Harrison's
record could be. Assuming that they are able to take
care of a Richie County and a PoCA and maybe
even the Clay County to get the five and oh,
then your first true toughest test would probably be that
early October matchup against Philip Barber, which comes one week
before the Hawks would be playing Doddridge County. But certainly
(20:23):
when you consider some of what South Harrison has lost
and some of what they've had to replace, being tough
and o holding your first two opponents to fifteen and
nineteen points respectively, right half the way, I would imagine
it is pretty encouraged with it.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Yeah, and that is a Braxton County team that is
definitely much improved. They dropped forty nine in week two
in a win, and you alluded to that first week
performance holding them to fifteen. One quick note on Doddridge,
so that that game coming up with Tyler Consolidated is
really interesting to me.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
What have you heard?
Speaker 2 (20:50):
I haven't heard anything about how that Tyler Ohama game
went other than looking at the score and kind of
doing a double take, because of course Mohamma dropped seventy
nine the first week of the season and then Tyler consolidated.
Who every time I've seen them play, they play really hard. Uh,
this is a program that has beaten Doddridge County in
the last couple of seasons. Is this is this a
(21:12):
scenario where I mean, how big of a test is
this for for Doddridge in this case? Is this Tyler
team as good as that outcome looks against Wahama where
they hold them to twenty eight.
Speaker 4 (21:21):
I think I think Tyler's a pretty solid team.
Speaker 5 (21:24):
They've you know, they've proven over the last several years
that you know, they're winning program. As you mentioned, They've
had some good battles and cells with Doddridge. So these
two teams are obviously not familiar, you know, not unfamiliar,
I should say, with one another. And you know, that'll
probably be a pretty interesting matchup. I would expect a
relatively competitive game regardless of which way it goes. But
you know, I still think it's fair to question Tyler two. Yes,
(21:45):
they only lost the two took my two touchdowns to
an outstanding Ohama team in their opening game. They handled
Richie County pretty easily, just as Doddridge County did a
week ago. But you know, this is a Tyler team
that now you're getting into the gauntlet of your schedule here,
starting with this Week three matchup again Dodge, because afterwards
you've got some games coming up against both Petersburg and Cameron.
In October they also face Oaklen and South Harrison, and
(22:07):
then they closed the year with Roan County. So if
Tyler consolidated is able to navigate that schedule and finished
with a winning record, it probably will garner some attention. Unquestionably,
it would leave them with a playoff berth. They you know,
with that schedule, they may be able to get into
the playoffs with a five hundred record, because almost certainly
they're playing at least six or.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
Seven playoff teams.
Speaker 5 (22:28):
So you know, the Sober Knights are going to be
a well tested group and very eager to see how.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
That game plays out Friday.
Speaker 5 (22:33):
I would expect it to be a pretty significant challenge
that both Doddridge and Tyler posed to one another.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Yeah, last question for you. You just you just hit
on something that I am curious about. And of course
we're not going to see our first playoff ratings until
Tuesday of next week, and I highly recommend folks don't
take them as the gospel in week three. But it
does lead me to a question that I know we
are in a new era where in a four classification system.
You know, in the old days, there was a period
(23:00):
of time where in single A you would wonder, is
eight wins enough to get in if your schedule, like,
if you're not beating the right opponents in single A,
single A was it? You know, seven wins might get
you in, and you're gonna be you know, for your
for your trouble in single A of winning seven out
of ten games, you're gonna be going on the road
somewhere somewhere potentially very far. And you know, I think
(23:21):
this is something that we have to get used to
across every classification now, is that the expectations of how
one gets in have changed a little bit. What do
you think at this point, based on the current structure,
what gets a team at least in and playing in
that extra game.
Speaker 5 (23:39):
Yeah, it's gonna, you know, depend on class Obviously, with
only twenty schools in four A, you're gonna have, you know,
numerous teams probably you're ten through sixteen seeds. You know,
we'll be lucky to have five wins plus, so you know,
you're gonna have a lot of schools.
Speaker 4 (23:53):
You're with only four missing.
Speaker 5 (23:54):
The playoffs and the postseason for four A, you know,
your twelve through sixteen seeds could certainly look like and
seven and two and eight you know teams.
Speaker 4 (24:02):
But obviously in the other classes, largely.
Speaker 5 (24:04):
In Triple A and Double A in particular, you know,
most teams, I do think that we'll qualify for the
playoffs this year will have to have a winning record.
There will be some exceptions, and that's where playing a
challenging schedule, you know, is now an added bonus. The
SSAC has put more of an emphasis on it with
the playoff formula and rewarding teams for going out and
scheduling tougher opponents. So I would think that, you know,
(24:25):
there'll be very few, if any teams this year statewide
that have a winning record that aren't in the playoffs.
If there are some, it's probably going to be in
the case of, you know, your five and four six
and four range. Maybe in some of the smaller classifications
that have more schools, But I think generally speaking, if
you're a high school football program across West Virginia and
any of the three smaller classes in particular, five to
(24:48):
six wins more often than not is going to get
you into the postseason.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Yeah, I haven't looked at it closely enough. The thing
that made me think about this question was, I know
RCB obviously, I think Elkins got in with five wins
last year. RCB got in with four wins Lincoln. Had
they switched to the when the legal challenge was going on,
Lincoln would have gotten in with three wins under one scenario.
And the reason this kind of popped into my head
is I'm wondering about how are coaches doing this now
(25:15):
in terms of do they have a set number in
mind of how many wins do I want to have
on my schedule from the opponent or how many playoff
opponents theoretically do I want to have on my schedule.
And I don't know if that's something you've had a
chance to talk with coaches about or if there's been
a precedent for how they've done that historically before we
changed in system. But I think with the constant changes
(25:37):
that has been on my mind a lot lately is
what scheduling quirks. Folks are folks in the coaching circles
looking at as far as trying to maximize their ability
to get in Yeah.
Speaker 5 (25:48):
And you know that oftentimes too is where we talked about.
You know, conference memberships and conference bylaws, those also come
into play because you know, for example, Little Canala Conference,
you're going to obviously be playing X amount of teams
from the LKC. In the case of a South Harrison
or a Dodgage County. For a Bridgeport or Robert C.
Bird or Fairmont Senior, you're going to be playing you know,
half of your schedule a little bit more of it
(26:11):
on an annual.
Speaker 4 (26:11):
Basis against Big Ten opponents.
Speaker 5 (26:13):
But you know, when you look at a team like
bridge Ford, that's where you get a little bit of
a benefit to here next week. For example, in Week four,
they're going to be playing Philip Barbara. Sure, that's a
game you expect Bridgeport to win, but they'll get a
lot more out of playing Philip Barber than they win
a lot of other teams in the Big Ten because
Philip Barber looks like is headed for another winning season
and another playoffs burst. So I do think there's a
fine balance there. Obviously, you want to cite a team
(26:35):
like Bridgeport that put a running clock on everybody last year.
This year they went and beefed up what you know,
they perceive to be a more challenging schedule and what
I would say most people believe to be a more
challenging schedule. In the case of the Tribe, they went
out of state to do it, and we'll be playing
both Fort Hill, Maryland and they're recently completed matchup in
Week two with Heritage Virginia. But you know, you don't
want to distantarily just go overload and play eight or
(26:58):
nine teams. But I do think, especially if you're a coach,
that believes your program is capable of contending for state
championship with the highest level. You certainly want to be
playing at least half of your schedule against playoff caliber teams.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
That's a that's a perfect way to answer that question, Greg,
much appreciated man. Tell the folks where they can find
I know there's I've been reading a lot of your
work lately, and I'm not even going to bother asking
about WVU because it just it feels very it feels
all very grim. But tell the folks where they can
find the myriad and copious amounts of your writing.
Speaker 5 (27:31):
Yeah, everything's at wv metro news dot com, just you know,
marked off by each specific sport through WVU and high school.
And we'll have coverage a lot of games state wide.
I know fair Mount Senior impressed and playing this upcoming Thursday.
We'll have that game covered and I'll actually be heading
to Herbert Hoover on Friday as you get a look
at the Nitro Herbert Hoover matchup.
Speaker 4 (27:51):
So very nice. I took that out of our website.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Very that's a great, great early season matchup, very intriguing,
all right, Greg, much appreciated man.
Speaker 3 (27:57):
We'll talk with you soon.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
All right, No problem, Thanks loving that'll do it for
our main segment today. I want to remind folks before
we go to break that two things going on. One,
I wanted to chat with Greg because I just you know,
he sees a lot of high school football and I
really I like getting his take from time to time
on what he sees because he is around the whole
(28:21):
state for starters, too. Want to remind folks that if
you're wondering where Chris Johnson is, so every week now
we're recording a high school football recap pod. It can
be about twenty to thirty minutes and you don't have
to go anywhere. Friday Free for All show that we
do on Friday mornings has a podcast already and you
can now just find that extra extra special recap each
(28:43):
week at the Friday Free for All podcast on either
the speaker platform or your preferred podcasting platform. So if
you're a high school football not like me, go check
that out. It'll be good. And that way also as well,
when we have the show on Fridays, we spend a
lot of time time talking about tonight's action that night.
We don't get to do as much on what happened
(29:04):
the previous week, because it's already been a week at
that point, so now you get a more complete conversation.
That way, you get what happened the week before around Tuesday,
and you get the preview of that night's action on
Friday morning. All right, on that note, we'll take a
quick break. We're back on the other side to wrap
the show.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
Here.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
This is the Morning Spiel, presented by Royal Water.
Speaker 3 (29:23):
Treatment of one of three to three to be a KMZ.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
Never miss an episode. Recorded versions of the Morning Spiel
are online at wkmznews dot com.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
All Right, folks, were just at the we're at the
tail end of things here.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
We had a good show today. I thought we had
a good show today. I always kind of think we
have a good show.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
There are some days where I'll be like, man, man,
that wasn't.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
That wasn't for me. Today I messed up what I'm hoping.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
I was talking about this during the first segment of
the show today. I was I was talking a little
bit about like the concept of you know, who has
time for anything anymore? And so we're all really really
busy doing a million different things. I am a big believer. Listen,
I'm a big believer. I think we should, like the
workday should be reduced to like six hours, Like I
think I'd be better off working like like I think
(30:08):
a thirty hour work week is probably where we should
be five days, six hours, or maybe it should be
seven and a half hours four days. But one of
the things I have found is like, and I'm a
lot less effective after a certain point, like I'm I
do my best work, Like an hour is like two
through four the prime part of my day hour one,
(30:29):
it's like I'm settling in. I gotta get stuff done,
but I'm kind of planning out my.
Speaker 3 (30:33):
Day the last few hours.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
You know, you're getting some work done, but not a
creative like once I hit hours like seven in, I'm
not doing a lot.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
But that's the thing.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
We're all super busy right now, and that's that's sort
of that's the basic premise behind this show, by the way,
and why we don't do a lot on the news
of that. I mean, sometimes we do, but I will
tell you from my perspective that I really enjoy talking.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
About sports and entertainment and.
Speaker 2 (30:59):
All the things that we that make life worth living
in the first place.
Speaker 3 (31:04):
So whether that be high school football.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
Or or your kid is in a play, or you
want to go see something a show at the Robinson Grant.
To me, those are the things that make life fun
in the first place. So that's why we try to
focus on those things on this show specifically for that reason,
because I think that's that's what we're doing here. You know,
that is what we're doing here. We're supposed to be
enjoying ourselves, in my opinion. I guess I can't say
(31:30):
definitively that everybody's supposed to feel that way, but I
think we're supposed to be here to have fun, to
enjoy ourselves. I get that there are real world issues
going on out there, and you know you have to
deal with them. But my hope is that my show
is like a one hour oasis in the desert. It's
a it's a it's a resting point for you before
you have to go on and hear all the political
(31:51):
sides yelling at one another over this, that and the
other thing. And again, it's not that it's not that
I'm without opinion on these things.
Speaker 4 (31:58):
I do.
Speaker 2 (31:58):
I have strongly held, strongly felt opinions on a lot
of these issues. But I also think part of the
coursening of the discourse is because we just keep yelling
at each other. So you don't need another one of
those on my show. You can come here and rest
a sure reckoning. We're not gonna yell at each other
unless it's about Unless it's about artificial intelligence, I will
yell about that all day. I have some real issues
(32:19):
with AI. But that's besides the point. I'm getting way
off topic here. All Right, We're low on time, so
I'll go ahead and I'll get us out of here
for the day and remind you folks that tomorrow Aristotle,
Jones and Jason Young are with us. As we're gonna
be doing.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
We're gonna be doing some super group stuff.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
I've been excited for this for a couple of days,
talking about the the We're trying to build a West
Virginia supergroup. If you'd like to help, by the way,
send your suggestions along the Morning Spiel at gmail dot com.
The Morningspiel at gmail dot com. Help us build a
West Virginia super group artistically specifically musically West Virginia super Group.
(32:58):
I have some thoughts on this. I have some real
fun We'll save it for tomorrow because we got to go.
This is the Morning Spiel presented by Royal Water Treatment.
I want to three three w k MCC tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
Folks.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
Thanks for being part of the show, and make sure
you catch the show in podcast form at the Spreak
wrapper your preferred podcasting platform
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