Down the stretch they come! With the playoffs hovering right around the corner, a number of area teams put up great showingss last week.

On the strength of a 163-yard, 2 TD rushing effort form senior wingback Derek Long coach John Bowers’ Morgantown Mohigans romped on the road with a 21-3 victory at John Marshall. University, in the meantime, rolled to a decisive win over Preston County to go 5-4 heading into this week’s MoHawk Bowl showdown with the Mohigans. At Wimer Field, Elkins dropped a 50-spot on the Lewis County Minutemen to go 3-5 on the year. With remaining games against winless North Marion and NCAC rival Buckhannon-Upshur, it’s suddenly clear why Tigers’ coach Greg Hott feels his youthful squad has a chance to finish on a high note with a lot to look forward to in ’07. Last Thursday night at East-West Stadium, the lethal duo of Kyle Allard and Jerry Kelly combined for nearly 340 yards rushing as Fairmont Senior overcame an early 14-0 deficit to burn a playoff caliber Wheeling Park club 34-21. Meanwhile, after back-to-back last-minute losses at home Tucker County finally pulled down another ‘W’ as quarterback Cody Pifer accounted for two touchdowns and more than 225 yards from scrimmage in guiding coach A.J. Rapp’s Mountain Lions to a thrilling 21-19 victory over the Doddridge County Bulldogs. Brad Jett’s South Harrison Hawks proved once again that they were built to survive the elements with a 34-21 win over county rival Notre Dame on a mud-spattered field in Lost Creek. Bridgeport rebounded convincingly from last week’s upset at Grafton with a 37-20 win over Nicholas County on the strength of a 117-yard effort from Mark Gray. Coach Bill Haddox’s East Fairmont Bees routed Buckhannon-Upshur 27-7 and along the way took a colossal step toward their first postseason berth in three decades. Did someone say postseason berth? The Clay-Battelle Cee-Bees’ own bid for the 2006 state playoffs grows more viable each week…Friday CBHS knocked off Tygarts Valley 33-8 to move to 8-0 on the season. Another area squad looking primed for a possible postseason run is Robert C. Byrd. Friday night, Flying Eagles’ QB Cody Gilmore fired three early scores as RCB dismantled Parkersburg South 35-10.

The most eye-opening team effort in the area, however, came at Hite Field in Clarksburg. It was there that coach Jimmy Lopez and the Lincoln Cougars pulled off one of the season’s most surprising upsets with a resounding 28-6 win over the No. 3 ranked team in all of Class AA…the Liberty Mountaineers. Behind the efficient passing of senior Joey Farris (7-9, 98 yards, 1 TD, 0 Int) and the diverse running of Matt Wray (85 yards) and Derek Rogers (3 TDs), Lincoln climbed to an early 14-0 lead. From that point the Cougars defense did the rest, holding the Mountaineers’ high-powered attack to less than 220 yards of offense and a single touchdown while forcing a pair of interceptions and limiting Liberty’s explosive feature back Erick Robey to 42 yards on 8 carries. The victory in and of itself probably won’t be enough to secure a playoff spot for Lincoln, but now at 5-3, it certainly brings them back into the discussion.