WV High School Football Playoffs Roundup: Musselman, Oak Glen, East Hardy Advance

Musselman High senior standout Blake Hartman scored seven touchdowns and passed former Nitro star Josh Culbertson as the state’s all-time individual leading scorer on Saturday as the Applemen cruised past visiting University 64-26 in the first round of the Class AAA state playoffs.

No. 3 Musselman rolled out to a 36-0 lead after one quarter thanks to four Hartman touchdowns, while No. 14 University was led by a two-touchdown performance by Jaeden Hammack. The Applemen move on to next week’s quarterfinal round where they are tentatively scheduled to host No. 6 Spring Valley next Sunday.

Let’s take a look at Saturday’s other high school football playoff results from around West Virginia:

CLASS AAA

• No. 5 BRIDGEPORT 55, No. 12 WASHINGTON 7: Cam Cole accounted for five touchdowns (four rushing, one passing) and more than 300 yards of total offense as the Indians rolled to an easy win against the visiting Patriots on Saturday at Wayne Jamison Field in Harrison County. J.T. Muller also scored twice for Bridgeport, which set up a state quarterfinal clash with No. 4 Martinsburg next week in a matchup of last season’s Class AAA and Class AA state champions.

CLASS AA

• No. 5 OAK GLEN 42, No. 12 POINT PLEASANT 0: The Golden Bears led 22-0 at halftime and never looked back on their way to a second win against Point Pleasant this season. Nick Chaney threw two touchdown passes while Hunter Patterson scored three times on the ground for Oak Glen, which advances to host No. 13 Herbert Hoover in next week’s quarterfinal round. That game is scheduled for 4 p.m. next Saturday.

CLASS A

• No. 2 GREENBRIER WEST 58, No. 15 MADONNA 0: Levi Weikle, Cole McClung and Noah Brown each scored rushing touchdowns while quarterback Kaiden Pack threw two touchdown passes and returned a punt for a score in the Cavaliers’ rout of the visiting Blue Dons on Saturday evening in Charmco. West will host No. 7 Ritchie County in next week’s quarterfinal round.
• No. 14 EAST HARDY 25, No. 3 DODDRIDGE COUNTY 19: Alex Miller ran for one touchdown while Christian Dove threw for three scores as the Cougars went on the road to upset the rival Bulldogs on Saturday. East Hardy is next scheduled to visit
• No. 7 RITCHIE COUNTY 16, No. 10 WIRT COUNTY 10: Graden McKinney ran 72 yards for a touchdown with less than eight minutes to play to provide the game-winning score for the Rebels on Saturday. Ritchie County visits Greenbrier West next week in the state quarterfinal round.

COVID MAP NEARLY WIPES OUT SUNDAY SLATE

Saturday’s update to the West Virginia Department of Education COVID metrics maps brought with it the cancellation of 10 high school football playoff games scheduled for Sunday, with the Class AA game between No. 15 Clay County and No. 2 Bluefield — a game that was briefly called off during the week — the only contest left standing.

Wood County (Parkersburg, Williamstown), Putnam County (Buffalo, Poca, Hurricane), Mingo County (Tug Valley), Ohio County (Wheeling Park, Wheeling Central), Jackson County (Ripley) and Marshall County (John Marshall) all failed to make the required improvements on the color-coded map last week, which means all of those teams wer eliminated from the 2020 postseason in an instant early Saturday evening. The following games set for Sunday were called off

CLASS AAA

• No. 16 John Marshall at No. 1 Cabell Midland
• No. 15 Ripley at No. 2 South Charleston
• No. 10 Princeton at No. 7 Wheeling Park
• No. 11 Hurricane at No. 6 Spring Valley
• No. 9 Spring Mills at No. 8 Parkersburg

CLASS AA

• No. 9 Poca at No. 8 Robert C. Byrd

CLASS A

• No. 12 Buffalo at No. 5 Midland Trail
• No. 16 Tygarts Valley at No. 1 Tug Valley
• No. 11 Tolsia at No. 6 Williamstown