CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- THE list was a "Who's Who" of the state's most successful high school football programs.
Morgantown, Bluefield, Parkersburg, Poca, Capital, Martinsburg and Moorefield. Those schools have combined for 26 state championships and 42 Super Six appearances in the last 25 years.
They've been the among the most dominant programs of the current generation ... and every last one of them lost their opening game of the 2008 season.
Since Capital opened its doors within the present era (1989), it's difficult to imagine such an occurrence before last week.
Regardless, the phenomenon is not only as rare as cats and dogs living together in harmony, it's also indicative of a gradual power shift that has taken over the realm of Mountain State prep football.
A loss by any one, or even several, of those teams wouldn't be a surprise. Each lost to a quality opponent, and only one (Poca) lost on its home field without sharing that field with its Friday opponent.
Capital shares its stadium George Washington and Bluefield shares Mitchell Stadium with Graham, Va., which beat the Beavers last weekened.
A loss is still a loss, however.
Whether it's a case of Wheeling Park again showing it knows better than most how to handle Morgantown, GW proving it has even more skill-position threats than Capital, or Cabell Midland outmuscling mighty Parkersburg to the tune of 340 rushing yards, the die has been cast.
The all-out war for football supremacy as we enter the final years of the decade has begun.
The trend began last year in Class AAA, when St. Albans, East Fairmont and University reached the playoff semifinals. The Red Dragons eventually made their first state title game appearance since 1979 after ousting East Fairmont, which had won its first two playoff games in school history to reach the final four.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- THE list was a "Who's Who" of the state's most successful high school football programs.
Morgantown, Bluefield, Parkersburg, Poca, Capital, Martinsburg and Moorefield. Those schools have combined for 26 state championships and 42 Super Six appearances in the last 25 years.
They've been the among the most dominant programs of the current generation ... and every last one of them lost their opening game of the 2008 season.
Since Capital opened its doors within the present era (1989), it's difficult to imagine such an occurrence before last week.
Regardless, the phenomenon is not only as rare as cats and dogs living together in harmony, it's also indicative of a gradual power shift that has taken over the realm of Mountain State prep football.
A loss by any one, or even several, of those teams wouldn't be a surprise. Each lost to a quality opponent, and only one (Poca) lost on its home field without sharing that field with its Friday opponent.
Capital shares its stadium George Washington and Bluefield shares Mitchell Stadium with Graham, Va., which beat the Beavers last weekened.
A loss is still a loss, however.
Whether it's a case of Wheeling Park again showing it knows better than most how to handle Morgantown, GW proving it has even more skill-position threats than Capital, or Cabell Midland outmuscling mighty Parkersburg to the tune of 340 rushing yards, the die has been cast.
The all-out war for football supremacy as we enter the final years of the decade has begun.
The trend began last year in Class AAA, when St. Albans, East Fairmont and University reached the playoff semifinals. The Red Dragons eventually made their first state title game appearance since 1979 after ousting East Fairmont, which had won its first two playoff games in school history to reach the final four.
It was University's third semifinal appearance this decade, but the Hawks have made just one Super Six appearance (in a 1994 loss to South Charleston) and have operated in the shadow of Morgantown High for nearly the whole of their school's existence.
Entering the season with the top ranking in the Daily Mail poll and being now on the verge of moving into their new home stadium, that dichotomy has changed to where Coach John Kelley's program currently rules the roost in Monongalia County.
GW entered 2008 looking somewhat to validate its first Mountain State Athletic Conference title last year. The Patriots took a big step forward in that pursuit with their 19-7 win over the Cougars last Thursday.
"We wanted to prove that last year wasn't a fluke," senior GW linebacker Chris Vance said after beating Capital. "We want to show that this team is just as good as last year's."
Midland regularly has given Parkersburg fits since opening in 1994. The Big Reds lead the all-time series 10-5, but just four games have been decided by more than 10 points.
Parkersburg is 16-9 in season openers since 1983. Brooke beat the Big Reds three straight years (1986-88) to start the season while both Capital (1992-93) and Riverside (2003-04) started the state's winningest program off with a loss in back-to-back campaigns.
Not surprisingly, the Cougars and Warriors found themselves moved further into the Big Reds' schedule in later years.
Teams that suffer losses in the first week of the season are far from written off from title consideration.
Parkersburg and Bluefield -- defending champions in Class AAA and AA, respectively -- are especially stacked with young talent that should keep their teams in contention well into November's playoffs. Moorefield dropped the first game of its season several times when reeling off six straight Class A titles under former Coach Alan Fiddler.
Last week's games -- more than anything -- showed the long-standing powers that if they want to remain on top, they're in for a dogfight.
Contact sportswriter Derek Taylor at derek.tay...@dailymail.com or (304) 348-1570.
