Photo courtesy Ben White
Chapmanville Regional High School’s Trevor Payne (22) runs with the ball in last week’s 40-21 loss at Sissonville in the season opener.
CHAPMANVILLE — Last week’s outcome was a bit ominous for the Chapmanville Regional High School football team.
The Tigers, ranked No. 8 in the Class AA preseason poll, were surprised at Sissonville, losing 40-21 to the Indians.
That’s the same Sissonville program which has not beaten Chapmanville in five years.
The Indians had been beaten by the Tigers 47-7 and 45-6 over the last two grid campaigns but came out on top last week in the Cardinal Conference game.
But that’s all in the past.
Chapmanville, 0-1 overall and 0-1 in the conference, hopes to bounce back in a big way on Friday night as the Tigers are scheduled to host Herbert Hoover, 0-1, in Chapmanville’s home opener at Tiger Stadium.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
Chapmanville coach George Barker said he hopes his team will respond on Friday night after last week’s disappointment.
“We plaayed pretty good football last week in the first half but in the second half we made a few mistakes,” Barker said. “That got us down emotionally and physically. We just wore down in the second half. We have to find a way to get more players on the field an eliminate those mistakes. We moved the ball well offensively in the first half but we had the injury with Devin Wiley and that changed our game plan a little bit. We just weren’t quite ready for all of this to happen in the first game of the season. It just kind of snowballed but Sissonville is a pretty good ballclub and we’re a young team. We hope that we can raise our game this week against Hoover.
Wiley, a sophomore running back, sprained his ankle in last week’s opener. Chapmanville also played junior Max Spradlin at quarterback. Senior starter Brandon White saw limited action at receiver due to his on-going leg injury.
“Wiley is day-to-day,” Barker said. “It’s going to be what he’s able to tolerate with his sprained ankle. With Brandon, it’s going to be awhile before he’s up to 100 percent. He’s very playable. This happens in this sport.”
The Tigers are 3-2 against Herbert Hoover since joining the Cardinal Conference. Chapmanville beat the Huskies 27-7 last year at Falling Rock.
Hoover comes into the game after losing 40-20 to Ravenswood in the non-conference opener at home.
The Huskies scrapped last year’s spread offense in favor of a ground-oriented scheme. Herbert Hoover couldn’t get it going last week in the first half with just 64 yards rushing on 20 attempts.
Hoover’s quarterback is Brenden Holbrook. The junior signal-caller hit Joey Forbes on a pair of third quarter touchdown passes from 67 and 40 yards out. Forbes also scored on a 19-yard touchdown run and ended up with 67 yards receiving and 37 rushing.
Holbrook, however, left the game with a leg injury with seven minutes to go in the ballgame and his status is uncertain for tonight’s clash with the Tigers.
The Huskies’ top back is Shawn Dotson, who rushed for 41 yards on 12 carries against the Reds Devils and scored on a 1-yard TD run.
Barker said Hoover will be tough to beat.
“They are big and strong up front. It kind of reminds me a lot of us last year,” he said. “The strength of their team is their offensive and defensive lines. They don’t throw it around a lot now. They’ve gone a little bit different way in their offense. They have a Georgia Tech kind of option game. They may have an injury to their quarterback so that might change things. We just have to be ready to play football and have to be ready for whatever they may bring. That’s what we have to do.”
Hoover’s defense gave up 319 yards rushing on 50 carries last week to the Red Devils before seeing its furious third-quarter rally fall short.
If all goes to plan, Alexander would finish his 14-day practice period on Sept. 18, meaning he would be eligible to play in Chapmanville’s game on Sept. 21 at county rival Logan.
The Tigers lost 22-21 at home to the Wildcats last season and saw its four-game win streak against Logan snapped.
Alexander transferred to Chapmanville late in the 2011 season and played six games for the Tigers, rushing for 391 yards on 44 carries. He scored a 60-yard TD run in the Braxton County playoff game and sparked the Tigers with 125 yards rushing on just 11 totes in a 20-14 win.
Chapmanville-Herbert Hoover
series since 2000:
2011: Chapmanville 27, Herbert Hoover 7
2010: Herbert Hoover 48, Chapmanville 45
2009: Herbert Hoover 30, Chapmanville 20
2008: Chapmanville 24, Herbert Hoover 0
2007: Chapmanville 40, Herbert Hoover 7
(at Laidley Field, Charleston)
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