CHAPMANVILLE — The Chapmanville Regional High School football team was just one play away from going 5-0 and beating Logan for the fifth straight year in last week’s game at Chapmanville.

But in the end, Logan scored a late touchdown and Joe Street’s second effort put the Wildcats into the end zone on the decisive two-point conversion play with a minute to go in the game, resulting in a 22-21 win by the Wildcats.

It was a disappointing loss for Chapmanville as the Tigers dropped to 4-1 on the season and fell from third to eighth in this week’s WVSSAC Class AA Computer Ratings.

The Tigers also lost the county championship as Logan, coupled with its win in the season opener at Man, went 2-0 in in-county contests.

Chapmanville hopes to bounce back this Friday night.

The Tigers just may very well bounce back as Chapmanville takes on a struggling James Monroe (2-3) team for its annual homecoming game.

Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. at Tiger Stadium.

The Mavericks are coming off a 54-20 spanking last week at the hands of Oak Hill. James Monroe opened the season with a 34-6 win at Narrows, Va., before falling 8-0 at Summers County and 35-15 at home against Glenvar, Va. The Mavericks then won in a 61-43 shootout at Pikeview on Sept. 16.

James Monroe is led by running back Matt Romanello, who has 71 rushes for 630 yards and nine touchdowns on the season. Trevor Fullen also has 226 yards on the ground on 54 carries and four scores.

Chapmanville and James Monroe have recent history against one another.

The Tigers went to Lindside last year and came away with a 32-17 victory.

Back in 2008, Chapmanville had home field advantage for the Double-A playoffs but were blanked 33-0 by the Mavericks in the first round of the post-season.

Chapmanville and James Monroe also met twice in the early 2000s in the Ronnie Ooten era as the Mavericks won both meetings.

CRHS coach George Barker said the Mavs have a good program.

“I would say James Monroe’s football team has had as much success as anybody over the last 15 years,” he said. “They play hard and they are well coached. They never stop. They do all of the little things right. They have a really good running back. He’s the same kid that they had last year. On tape, they don’t look any different than they were last year. They came down here a couple of years ago and kicked our tails. We can’t take them for granted.”

The Tigers are hoping to get a win and stay in the top eight in the ratings. The top 16 teams in each class qualify for the playoffs and the first eight receive home games.

“We don’t worry too much about the ratings until the end,” Barker said. “If we’re considering post-season play this is a big game for us. They are all big. That’s what I tell the kids. Whenever you win a big one the next one is bigger. If you lose, they are even bigger than that. It’s part of the season and we’re going to approach it just like any other game. Hopefully we can avoid the homecoming distractions this week and stay focused on the ballgame.”

The Tigers will try to get their offense back on track this week. In the Logan game, feature back Tyler Cox was held to 53 yards rushing on 16 carries. Running back Dustin Smith had 55 yards rushing to lead CRHS. Dylan Wiley took two reverses for 55 yards, one resulting in a touchdown.

Chapmanville quarterback Brandon White was 1-for-3 passing for a 19-yard TD pass to Brady Cox last week.

Joe Woody again led the Tiger defense last Friday night as he had 11 total tackles and three quarterback sacks. Trevor Payne had seven tackles and an interception. John Toler had eight total stops, while Smith contributed six total tackles and an interception.

“Joe is just a great kid. He’s a hard worker and gives you everything that he’s got on every down,” Barker said of his defensive lineman Woody. “He’s had a good season, hopefully he can continue that. He’s a treat to have on the field.”