Week 7 got rolling with a bang Thursday night amid the pageantry of the Forest Festival in Elkins as coach Greg Hott’s Tigers held on to upset rival Philip Barbour in a 16-12 barnburner at Wimer Field. The EHS defense denied QB Nick Stewart and the Colts offense in the game’s waning seconds to secure a thrilling win in a contest that set the tone for a full slate of great action and impressive team efforts. Two unbeaten area teams headed in different directions to defend their perfect records in the panhandles of West Virginia, but with similar results. Undefeated Bridgeport journeyed east to Inwood where they ran over, around and through an overmatched Musselman defense for more than 500 yards rushing in a 28-7 win that served as yet another dominant demonstration of the Indians’ might. The unbeaten Clay-Battelle Cee-Bees, meanwhile, headed north to Weirton where they throttled a talented Madonna Blue Dons squad to move to 6-0 on the year. Fairmont Senior kept rolling with a 28-14 win over NCAC foe Buckhannon-Upshur on the strength of another impressive outing by Polar Bears’ QB Kyle Allard who continues to make a hard push for Kennedy Award consideration. Lincoln rebounded from a tough loss at Grafton with a convincing win over Ritchie County. Morgantown rolled to another compelling victory on the road at North Marion while Robert C. Byrd dispelled the notion of a Bridgeport hangover by summarily crushing the Class AAA No. 12 ranked Nicholas County Grizzlies 38-0. Perhaps the most exciting game on the docket came in the form of Liberty’s 14-13 nail-biter over South Harrison in Lost Creek…A match-up that in recent years has developed into a Harrison County classic.

The most pivotal team effort of the week, however, was played out at Pony Lewis Field in Morgantown.

After consecutive losses dropped them to 3-3 on the year, University High’s season was teetering on the brink. Their hope of another playoff run hadn’t been torched just yet, but the smell of gasoline was certainly in the air. With the upstart Brooke Bruins coming to town at 5-1 and perched in the No. 10 slot of the Class AAA rankings, things looked grim for UHS coach John Kelley’s troops. Forty-eight minutes and one classic defensive performance later, the Hawks season suddenly took on a new complexion. University defensive coordinator Bruce Clinton brewed up a game plan that had Brooke dribbling with their left hand for four full quarters. The Hawks limited BHS to 133 total yards from scrimmage and held court in the Bruins’ backfield all night long, registering five sacks and knocking multiple Brooke ball carriers for key losses.

With remaining games on the schedule against John Marshall (5-2), Preston County (1-5) and Morgantown (5-2), University’s impressive 12-3 victory over the Bruins Friday night seems to have set the stage for the 4-3 Hawks to at least attempt another late season playoff surge.

THEGAMEBREAKER.NET congratulates the University Hawks, our seventh Team of the Week for the 2006 season.