PARKERSBURG - The Class AA football playoffs have swiftly turned into what looks largely like the Big 10-Cardinal Conference Challenge.
The basketball event, which heads into its fourth year in Decemeber, pits teams from the respective leagues against each other in a one-day shootout. While No. 2 seed Bluefield (9-1) and No. 5 seed Keyser (8-3) are not part of either conference, all six of the remaining quarterfinalists are.
As one of the outsiders, Keyser coach Sean Biser said there's benefits to playing familiar foes in the posteason, but if only for the sake of curiosity, he does not mind playing games that might require a little more travel.
"For us, it's kind of nice to just get in our bus and drive to Fairmont," said Biser, whose team plays the No. 4 seed Polar Bears (9-2) on Friday night.
"It's not a long trip. A lot of people might think so but for our guys, we're used to travelling.
"But also, I like the idea of people you've never played before," Biser said. "We've kind of got some familiarity with these teams so playing [Fairmont] was a breath of fresh air because we haven't really seen them lately."
Keyser faced top-seeded and two-time defending state champion Bridgeport (10-0-1) in the regular season, losing 38-0 on the road. They also played - and beat - No. 9 seed Robert C. Byrd (8-3), which plays Bridgeport on Saturday in another quarterfinal.
"To us it doesn't matter, though. As long as we're in and we're advancing that's the only thing that matters," Biser said.
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Bridgeport coach Josh Nicewarner's team faced Byrd in the quarterfinals a year ago as well, and will play host to the Eagles at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
The Indians beat Byrd 48-21 in Week 4 of the regular season, but Nicewarner is concerned about Byrd senior running back Juwan Jones-Wright.
"I've become accustomed to the defense always bailing the offense out," Nicewarner said of the Indians' style of play during their two-year championship run.
"This year has been a little bit of the opposite up until last week in the playoffs. Our regular-season matchup with them was kind of a turning point and a reality check for us. Looking back at the film it wasn't the scheme, it was a personnel issue and by that I mean we had guys who just didn't want to tackle the kid," he said.
Jones-Wright (6-foot-1, 235 pounds) ran for 182 yards in the September loss. He ran for more than 300 last week in a first-round win at No. 8 seed Chapmanville (7-4). He went over the 2,000-yard rushing mark for the season in the win.
"That's probably the biggest point that we're going to have to make this week, is getting them to understand that was the problem, and that they're the only ones that are going to be able to correct it."
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Herbert Hoover (8-3) nearly got a pair of 200-yard rushing performances in its opening-round win at No. 6 seed James Monroe (8-3). Coach Tim Meyer said that the 11th-seeded Huskies, who won their first playoff game since 2002 last week, are going to have to get a similar performance in the quarterfinals at No. 3 seed Tolsia (10-1) if they hope to advance further.
"Triston is great at making reads, but everything we do depends on Brody," Meyer said in reference to quarterback Triston Hager and fullback Brody Thomas.
Hager ran for 196 yards and three touchdowns and Thomas added 185 yards and two scores against the Mavericks in a 55-40 win. Hager repeatedly went for big gains on option keepers to the perimeter but that success was largely fueld by Thomas' ability to pick up large chunks of yardage by running up the middle.
"We've got to have him get that burst for all that to happen," Meyer said.