What a week for area teams jockeying for playoff positioning. Morgantown, Clay-Battelle, Robert C. Byrd and both Fairmont’s – East and West – continued to climb the charts with impressive wins. The Liberty Mountaineers pulled off another edge-of-the-seat finish to go 6-1, while the Doddridge County Bulldogs pulled down win number 2 on the year in a hard fought struggle against Ritchie County. The Philip Barbour Colts didn’t let a little thing like losing the services of one of the area’s top passers get in their way. When PBHS quarterback Nick Stewart was hospitalized with an appendicitis, the Colts knew they would miss not only his 1,481 yards passing but also his leadership. Philip Barbour rallied, however, and circled the wagons with a serviceable performance by Michael Hunter to pull off a 35-14 Big 10 win over Lewis County to keep their playoff hopes alive. In Shinnston, coach Brad Jett’s South Harrison Hawks stopped the bleeding with a big 26-19 win over county rival Lincoln that put a stop on SHHS 4-game skid. It’s tough to dispute the fact, however, that the most profound team effort in the region last week took place in Taylor County.
“David put his hand in the bag, and took there a stone and slung it. And struck the Philistine on the head, and he fell to the ground.”
Aside from being a frequently cited passage from the 1st Book of Samuel - and a pretty cool quote from the team chaplain in the movie “Hoosiers” – the above reference has taken on a life all of its own in the realm of sports. As over used as it might sometimes seem in the sports arena, please forgive us for using it to describe by analogy the effort put forth by coach Mike Skinner’s Grafton Bearcats against the Bridgeport Indians Friday night. All things considered, we just couldn’t help ourselves. GHS was a reportedly overmatched Class AA squad with their backs pushed to the proverbial playoff wall and found themselves pitted against Bridgeport - one of the preeminent programs in all of West Virginia enjoying perhaps their finest hour since a state title in 2000. Bridgeport arrived at McKinney Field undefeated and nearly untested, perched at No. 3 in the Class AAA state rankings. Grafton, meanwhile, was still licking its wounds from the pounding it had taken a week earlier at home from Class A powerhouse Wheeling Central in a game that had exposed the Bearcats weakness against the running game…A fact that didn’t bode well with the Tribe coming to town with over 2,000 rushing yards already notched on their belt. The stage was set…and the Bearcats delivered.
After 59 thrilling minutes Grafton had built a shocking 24-17 lead but the Indians were threatening in a goal to go situation. The Bearcats defense stiffened one final time and BHS quarterback Sean Snider’s 4th down pass attempt was denied with only seconds remaining. The Grafton masses swarmed McKinney Field to celebrate what some are calling the program’s biggest win since QB Shane Glass and company helped coach Skinner bring home a state title in 1984.
THEGAMEBREAKER.NET congratulates the Grafton Bearcats, our eighth Team of the Week for the 2006 season.
