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West Virginia High Schools Join Ohio On The Gridiron

By KIM NORTH 4 min read

While Ohio has one week in the books already, West Virginia kicks off the high school football season tonight when Weir heads north on W.Va. 2 to meet Hancock County rival Oak Glen at the Field of Dreams Complex in New Manchester.

Both schools have new head coaches as Chris Hill takes over the Red Riders reins while Derrick Stickles returns to his alma mater.

Weir leads the all-time series 40-21 and has won nine of the last 13. Oak Glen won last year but Weir won the previous three.

The game has been played yearly since 1965.

Staying in the Mountain State, there are five season-opening matchups on Friday night's schedule, highlighted by the Battle of Patriots at the Erickson All-Sports Facility in Parkersburg.

The Ohio County Patriots hold a 23-14 advantage in the all-time series, have prevailed in the last three meetings and 12 of the last 15.

In other West Virginia games, Brooke travels to Hamlin to meet Lincoln County, while Cameron visits Clay-Battelle in a matchup of top 5 Class A squads. Tygarts Valley treks to Pine Grove to face Valley on Thomas C. West Field and Madonna and first-year head coach Shawn McKinnon head to Baker to meet East Hardy.

The Bruins have won both of their previous matchups with the Panthers, outscoring them 68-14 in the process.

The Dragons and Cee-Bees will renew acquaintances for the 70th time, with the Marshall Countians holding a 41-27-1 stronghold in the series.

Cameron is 11-1 all-time against Clay-Battelle, but that loss (24-12) came in the Class A state semifinals last fall. The Dragons have 547 all-time victories.

The Lumberjacks and Bulldogs have met 20 times, with the Wetzel County crew holding a 13-7 margin. Valley, which dropped a 54-13 decision last year in Mill Creek, has won three of the last four.

The Blue Dons enter their game with the Cougars sitting on 397 career victories. This will be the first meeting between the schools.

In inter-state contests, Linsly heads to Girard (1-0), Magnolia welcomes Frontier (1-0) and John Marshall ventures to Marietta (0-1).

The Cadets head to east of Akron to meet Indians at Arrowhead Stadium. Girard blanked Coventry 47-0 last week.

The Blue Eagles await the Cougars at Alumni Field at Bill Stewart Memorial Field in New Martinsville. Frontier, which routed Bridgeport, 50-14, in its opener, holds a slim 5-3 edge in the all-time series.

The Monarchs and Tigers will be meeting for the first time when they clash at Marietta College's Don Drumm Stadium. Marietta dropped a 35-32 shootout at Morgan last week.

In the Buckeye State, Barnesville, Martins Ferry, Indian Creek and Shadyside all look to improve to 2-0.

The Shamrocks head west to Byesville where Meadowbrook (0-1) awaits for the 43rd all-time meeting. Barnesville holds a 27-13-2 advantage in the series, including 51-21 last season.

This game was played annually from 1991 to 2019 and then resumed again in 2022. There were no games in 2023-24.

The Colts dropped a 56-22 decision at Tri-Valley last week, while the Shamrocks defeated John Glenn, 34-19.

The Purple Riders traveled to Mt. Gilead and returned with an impressive, 42-19, victory, which was the 750th in program history. This week they make their home debut at the Dave Bruney Football Complex inside Purple Rider Stadium when Columbus Mifflin visits.

The Punchers were a 39-6 loser to Columbus South in their opener.

The Redskins earned the first win in the Ohio Valley when they took down visiting Cambridge, 49-36, at Kettlewell Memorial Stadium in Wintersville last Thursday.

Indian Creek welcomes East Liverpool (1-0) which defeated Carrollton 19-13 at Patterson Field on opening night.

The Tigers haven't started 2-0 since 2021 when they went 11-2 as they debuted at home against Southern Local (0-1) was blanked at home by Toronto, 33-0.

Shadyside blitzed homestanding East Palestine, 49-13, last week.

Other games of interest have River (1-0) traveling north on Ohio 7 to Yorkville's World War II Memorial Stadium when Buckeye Local (0-1) will make its home debut; Bridgeport (0-1) hosts Shenandoah (1-0) on Perkins Field inside Bill Jobko Stadium in Brookside; Harrison Central (0-1) welcomes East Palestine (0-1) to Wagner Field in Cadiz; Toronto (1-0) heads to Newcomerstown (1-0) and Steubenville Catholic (0-1) visits Strasburg (1-0).

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