Bill Lusk | WVOW Sports
PARKERSBURG Following its thrilling come from behind win over Tug Valley last week, the Man Hillbillies jumped two spots in the Class A playoff ratings released by the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission Tuesday afternoon.
The Hillbillies, ranked ninth last week, rose two spots to seventh heading into the final week of the regular season.
The top 16 teams in each classification qualify for the postseason and with one game left in the season, spots are still up for grabs in Class A, AA and AAA.
The Hillbillies won't have to worry about those what ifs because last week's win over then No. 5 Tug Valley secured a second consecutive Class A playoff berth for Man, who improved to 7-2 with the win.
The Hillbillies can lock up a home game for next week's Class A opening round with a win at county rival Chapmanville. Man, who last hosted a first round playoff game in 2015.
It is the same situation as last season for the Hillbillies, who failed to secure a home playoff game in the regular season finale, losing 28-0 to Chapmanville. The win propelled the Tigers to 10th in the final Class AA ratings while Man fell to 12th in the final Class A ratings.
A win Friday and the Hillbillies could finish as high as fourth. A loss and the Hillbillies could finish as low as 10th.
Heading into the final week, Cabell Midland, North Marion and Tucker County continue to lead its respective classes in West Virginia.
Cabell Midland leads Class AAA with Hurricane and Martinsburg sharing the second spot, Huntington is fourth and Jefferson fifth.
Princeton is ranked sixth, Spring Mills seventh, Bridgeport and Oak Hill tied for eighth and rounding out the top 10 is Morgantown.
Wheeling Park is 11th with Spring Valley 12th, George Washington 13th, Parkersburg South 14th, Musselman 15th and Parkersburg 16th.
Musselman and Parkersburg meet Friday night with the winner qualifying for the Class AAA playoffs while the loser would need 17th-ranked Woodrow Wilson to lose to George Washington to qualify.
The rest of the top 20 has Woodrow Wilson ranked 17th, University 18th, Brooke 19th and Capital 20th.
In Class AA, North Marion continues to show the way with Scott second, Roane County third, Fairmont Senior fourth and Weir fifth.
Mingo Central is sixth followed by Winfield in seventh, East Fairmont is eighth, Herbert Hoover ninth and Philip Barbour 10th.
Lewis County is No. 11 this week and is followed by Frankfort at No. 12, Independence is 13th, Lincoln and Point Pleasant are tied for 14th and Clay County currently holding the 16th and final playoff spot in Class AA.
Wayne is 17th but can clinch a playoff berth with a win Friday night over Poca. Shady Spring sits 18th with Nitro at No. 19 and Bluefield rounding out the top 20.
Tucker County continues to hold down the top spot in Class A and is followed by Greenbrier West, Williamstown, James Monroe and Wahama.
St. Marys is sixth just percentage points ahead of Man, who is seventh, with Tug Valley eighth, Cameron ninth and Doddridge County 10th.
East Hardy is 11th followed by Tyler Consolidated, Summers County, Wirt County, and Wheeling Central.
Midland Trail holds the 16th and final playoff spot in Class A, but hot in pursuit are 17th-ranked Montcalm, Paden City at No. 18, 19th-ranked Sherman and Madonna, who rounds out the top 20 for Class A.
Final rankings and playoff pairings will be released Friday night after completion of all 52 games across the state of West Virginia. Dates and times for first round playoff games will be announced by the WVSSAC on Sunday.
Comments