Its semifinal week and thehosts one of just two battles between unbeaten teams in the state. Williamstown and Wahama square off on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. atwith the winner heading to the Super Six and being just one of two teams in the state that’ll get the chance to play December football. Wahama head coach Ed Cromley was quoted in local media outlets this week saying that the Backyard Brawl inbetween WVU and Pitt wasn’t a factor in his selection of game date/time. In his eyes at the time, the Friday night slot kept his White Falcons on the same routine as the week before and offered better weather than Saturday looked to provide. Here are the details for what should be a classic matchup of two unbeatens:
After both Williamstown and Wahama won by, perhaps, closer than expected margins in the opening round of the playoffs two weeks ago, the Yellowjackets and White Falcons took care of business with a little less drama in the quarterfinals. After an 11-point win overin round one, Wahama eased into a 45-20 victory againstlast Friday night. Williamstown survived a 38-31 shootout in their playoff opener against Weirton Madonna before rolling to a 45-8 win over Valley Fayette last Friday night. For Williamstown, the difference in the last two games was twofold. For starters, Weirton Madonna had better luck isolating on Williamstown ball carriers than Valley while on defense, according to Williamstown head coach Terry Smith. On the defensive side of the ball, Williamstown defenders responded after sloppy tackling in the Weirton Madonna game to put on a crisper performance in their 37-point second round triumph.
“On defense, I think we tackled better this week. Offensively, Valley wasn’t able to isolate like Weirton Madonna.” Smith said, when asked what changed from week-to-week. “It seems like once the playoffs start you don’t work on tackling as much, so we went back and worked on that in practice last week.”
The opponent for Williamstown this week, Wahama, isn’t one that’s terribly familiar to the locals despite proximity of just 55 miles. For the last few seasons, Wahama has played in the Ohio-based Tri-Valley Conference, winning the Hocking Division in each of the last two seasons. Around the state, the White Falcons have come to be known as an offensive juggernaut. Wahama scored more than 60 points in all four of their September games and have eclipsed the 40-point mark in all but four of their 12 games this season. Led by top rusher Anthony Grimm, who has tallied 28 touchdowns and over 1,300 yards on the ground this season, the White Falcons dominate with a rushing attack that includes six other players that have scored touchdowns on the ground this year.
Williamstown is led on the ground by Trey King, with over 1,500 ground yards and 22 touchdowns, and capable passer Jake Tracewell in his first year as a starting quarterback. Ben Amos serves as a reliable target when Tracewell takes to the air and has great value as a cover corner on defense.
As the playoffs wind on, the importance of practicing and playing on artificial surfaces seems to be the talk around the state and things are no different in Williamstown. During the week, the football field atstays covered to keep it as dry as possible for Friday nights and with the Yellowjackets’ practice field in poor shape, Smith has moved practice throughout the area in search of a better field. Last week the Yellowjackets took things across the Ohio River to nearbyand the artificial surface of Don Drumm Stadium in,– less than five minutes from the campus ofby car. This week, the Yellowjackets have been practicing at.
“It’s been wet here and we took a look at our practice field and decided to make the switch. With this week being break we decided to make the move tosince our kids had a little more time to get there and back.” Smith said. “Basically we just wanted to get our work in without having to worry about the sloppy conditions this time of year. And of course we’re grateful to Coach (Don) Reeves and all the folks at Parkersburg High for letting us use their field.”
For all the talk of what both teams can do on offense, it’s the defensive side of the ball that’ll likely be the deciding factor on Friday. Williamstown has pitched shutouts in four of their 12 wins this season and has allowed 20 or more points just twice. Wahama’s defense has shut out three opponents this year while holding all but four of their opponents to fewer than 20 points. Pay no attention to the fact that these numbers have been inflated on both sides in the playoffs by the way, as Wahama has allowed 20 points in each of the last two weeks while the 31 points that Weirton Madonna scored on Williamstown two weeks ago was a season-high allowed by the Yellowjackets defense. That is merely a result of stronger opposition in the playoffs. With the juggernaut offense, Wahama’s average margin of victory is just under 40 points thanks in large part to that defense. While those defensive numbers might surprise some, Smith isn’t one that would be stunned by a solid White Falcons defensive unit.
“We’ve seen them two or three times this year and from what we’ve seen of them on film there really aren’t any surprises. They’re really fast and they’ve got a great defense.” Smith said of his opponent. “A lot of people will talk about their offense, but one of the first things football coaches will notice is the good defense and Wahama’s really good on that side of the ball.”
The winner heads tonext weekend to face the winner of Saturday’s battle between unbeaten East Hardy and Wheeling Central.
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