West Virginia High School Football Players to Watch in 2020

Preseason lists exist to get people talking and make people angry. I accept that, and with that knowledge I am going to attempt a preseason list that isn’t so much a list as it is a look behind the curtain at my process.

Here is the idea: When it started to look like I was going to get back into covering West Virginia high school football this season, I hit the books and went to work on research. I have covered a lot of prep football in the Mountain State but I have also been on the WVU beat for the last two seasons, so I am still playing catch up. I have searched all over the internet, read a lot of stories, watched a lot of news clips, watched Hudl films, talked to coaches — I dove in with both feet.

In that process, I have taken lots of notes. From those notes, I have pulled out a lot of names for this list — not every name, but a lot of them for sure. This is not an all-state team and it isn’t really a list of the best players but more a peek inside my notebook to see who I have an eye on going into the 2020 season. If a player you think should be here isn’t, either he slipped through the cracks or I couldn’t find much on him. You will also notice there are more players from Class AAA and AA schools than Class A, and that’s because digging up detailed info on the small schools is a lot harder than it is for the bigger schools (usually).

If I made this list every week (and I won’t, at least not to this extent), it would probably change a lot so keep that in mind as you read on. I will split the list by class and group the players by school alphabetically. If there are any errors (example: someone on my list is injured, has graduated or transferred) or misspellings feel free to chirp at me in the comments or on Twitter.

CLASS AAA PLAYERS TO WATCH

Bridgeport: Devin Hill  Cabell Midland: Isaiah Vaughn, Jakob Caudill, Jackson Fetty, Nemo Roberts  Capital: Chris Hudson, KJ Taylor  George Washington: De’Anthony Wright, R.T. Alexander, Michael Hughes   Greenbrier East: Nate Baker  Huntington: Eli Archer, Devon Jackson  Hurricane: Ismael Borrero  Martinsburg: Naieem Kearney, Kevon Warren, Anthony Smith  Morgantown: Caden Biser, John McConnell, Gunner Lattimore  Musselman: Blake Hartman, Ethan Northcraft, Justin Rhinehart  Parkersburg: Jacob Waybright, Bryson Singer  Parkersburg South: Devin Gaines  Princeton: Grant Cochran, Ethan Parsons  South Charleston: Zeiqui Lawton, Mondrell Dean, Trey Dunn  Spring Mills: Jacob Barrick  Spring Valley: Wyatt Milum, Jack Roy, Bryce Biggs  University: Corbin Turney, Chase Edwards  Wheeling Park: Caleb Bryan, Sincere Sinclair, Shaheed Jackson  

CLASS AA PLAYERS TO WATCH

Bluefield: Carson Deeb, Bradon Wiley, Sean Mitchell, Derick Flack  Elkins: T.J. Guire  Fairmont Senior: Gage Michael, Kayson Nealy  Independence: Atticus Goodson  Keyser: Gavin Root, Zion Powell, Drae Allen  Mingo Central: Daylin Goad  Nitro: Trevor Lowe  North Marion: Garrett Conaway, Tariq Miller  Oak Glen: Hunter Patterson, Kyler O’Connor  Poca: Jay Cook, Ethan Payne, Toby Payne  Point Pleasant: Hunter Bush  Robert C. Byrd: Jeremiah King, Xavier Lopez  Shady Spring: Isaiah Valentine  Sissonville: Dylan Griffin  Wayne: Ethan Bowens  Winfield: John Covert Wyoming East: Caleb Bower

CLASS A PLAYERS TO WATCH

Buffalo: Drew Clendenin, Jackson England, Dalton Jones  Gilmer County: Avery Chapman  Greenbrier West: Noah Brown, Kaiden Pack Man: Josh Moody, Cameran Frye  Meadow Bridge: Ty Roles  Pendleton County: Isaiah Gardiner, Josh Alt  Summers County:  Keandre Sarver  Tolsia: Tanner Copley, Jesse Muncy  Tug Valley: Caleb May  Tygarts Valley: Caden Boggs  Wheeling Central Catholic: Payton Marling

Also, while you’re here don’t forget to check out our preseason West Virginia high school football preview series from this week:

• Class A preview: Familiar faces among preseason contenders for small-school supremacy
• Class AA preview: Loaded Poca sets its sights on state title after crashing out early last season
• Class AAA preview: Can anyone step up and knock off powerhouse Martinsburg?