Weir unsure if it will play again
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WEIRTON -- This would normally be the final week of the regular season for West Virginia high school football, but last week may have been the final game for Weir High after a 29-12 win over arch rival Brooke on Friday.
Like all first-year head coaches, Weir High mentor Frank Sisinni has had a learning curve. Because of the COVID pandemic, that learning curve has been much steeper than any other year in history.
So far, the Red Riders have been able to complete eight of the 10 games scheduled (winning two of them) and almost got in a ninth game. A game with Washington High School in Charles Town, a Class AAA team with a 4-4 record and hopes of reaching the Top 16 for a playoff berth, was scheduled at 1:30 p.m. Saturday inside Jimmy Carey Stadium.
However, when this week's COVID metrics map was announced Saturday, Jefferson County came out in gold, and it is not permitted to play a team in a green county, which includes Hancock County. So, the Patriots were forced to cancel the date with Weir High. Coach Glenn Simpson's club is ranked 18th, so they desperately need a win this week to possibly jump into the Top 16.
Under the state guidelines, football teams from schools in counties with the same color rating can play each other. When they couldn't play Weir High, Simpson and his school's administration quickly arranged for them to play this week against John Marshall, which also is battling for a playoff spot with a 3-3 record and ranked 13th in Class AAA. Marshall County also is in gold.
Sisinni said the game with Washington was put together through a contact with former Brooke assistant football coach Wes Eddy, who Sisinni coached with during his tenure at Brooke. He said the Red Riders really wanted another game this week, so he and Athletic Director Donna Ferguson got on the phone.
"We had dialogue with 15 teams all day Sunday and none worked out," he said. "What was unique about it was when we had dialogue with Lincoln County, they wanted to play us Tuesday night and then they were going to play a game Friday against Robert C. Byrd. When he told me Tuesday was the only day he could play us, I immediately told him no because it would be very little prep and two varsity games in a week. Lincoln ended up picking up Herbert Hoover Tuesday night.
"Some teams are comfortable with where they are in the playoff standings, so they aren't fielding any calls. Then, we don't want to go up and play some of the top teams, especially in AAA because we're just not mature enough. We are pretty banged up from playing AAA Brooke last Friday, and there is no way we're going to do that with our kids."
Several of the Red Riders had top games in the win over Brooke. One of them, Gage Reitter, returned an interception 100 yards for a late touchdown that clinched the outcome.
That return ties him in Red Rider history with Ron "Fritz" Williams in 1963 and Rowand Smith in 2004 with 100-yard returns. Bill Paolisso holds the all-time record for the longest scoring play in school history with a 103-yard interception return in 1945 against Wheeling, while Hal Daugherty returned one in 1944 for 101 yards against Parkersburg.
Sophomore Jamari Bass had his first 100-yard rushing game this year when he logged 107 yards with 12 totes, and senior Anthony DiMatteis completed 6 of 16 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown. That gives him 1,034 total passing yards this season.
"After we told Lincoln no, things quickly began to fall through the cracks on Sunday," Sisinni said. "There were teams that already had made agreements with others and travel restrictions throughout the state were a factor, so here we are.
"I don't know about next week. We put some feelers out for other schools, and I don't know where they stand. Everything seems to be changing by the hour. I want to get together with the coaches and players and try to decide what we want to do."