Time to get out the calculators...

As we get into Week 9, the importance of rankings for playoff seeding creeps into the minds of those who follow high school football.

Several key matchups will further detail the rankings in all three classes and, even though some of the matchups are out of our area, the coaches in our area will be watching these games closely.

AAA
#3 Parkersburg vs. #6 Capital at Laidley Field
South Charleston at #20 Spring Valley
#16 Nitro at #8 Hurricane
Lincoln County at #5 St. Albans
#1 George Washington at Ripley
Princeton at #9 Riverside
#7 Bridgeport at #15 Nicholas County
#2 Robert C. Byrd at Parkersburg South
Greenbrier East at #19 Woodrow Wilson

AA
#1 Bluefield at Richlands (Va.)
#14 Roane County at Herbert Hoover
#3 Wayne at #17 Poca
#17 Sissonville at Shady Spring
#20 Clay County at #13 Ravenswood
Point Pleasant at #14 Logan
#6 Scott at #11 Liberty Raleigh
#10 Wyoming East at Man

A
#10 Buffalo at #10 Fayetteville
Valley at Richwood
Braxton County at Webster County
#9 Greenbrier West at #15 Midland Trail
Tug Valley at Hannan
Gilmer County at #6 Meadow Bridge
Mount Hope at #4 Pendleton County
Saturday’s game
#17 Parkersburg Catholic at #12 Pocahontas County

Pride on the line!

The stage is set for a great matchup Friday night at Huntington High School.

Huntington (0-8) is coming off its best performance of the year in a 36-31 loss to St. Albans while Cabell Midland (3-5) upset Nitro 56-48.

With a win, the Knights keep their slim playoff hopes alive and avenge last season's 36-0 shutout loss to Huntington.

The Shield is on the line, but more importantly, so is pride. Huntington would love nothing more than to end its winless streak with a victory over Cabell Midland.

Both quarterbacks are playmakers that you would not expect to see on a pair of losing teams and after last week's offensive performances by both, expect a lot of points on The Hill this Friday night.

Rivalries fuel the week ahead...

Rivalries will highlight the week of Oct. 12 as Wayne hosts Tolsia and Ironton hosts Portsmouth this Friday night.

The Pioneers remain undefeated, but will be looking to avenge a loss to Tolsia in the 2006 regular season. This matchup is also a rematch of the 2006 Class AA championship game.

Meanwhile, Tanks Memorial Stadium is once again rocking as the Fighting Tigers have righted the ship with five straight victories heading into the titanic tilt with the Trojans.

Ironton has won four straight in Ohio's second oldest rivalry, including last year's 49-42 shootout and leads the overall series 54-51-8.

This week's matchups also signal the stretch run of the high school football season with several teams looking to finish strong.

In our area, Spring Valley is the only team still with playoff aspirations after beating winless Huntington over the weekend. They will take on winless Lincoln County at home on Friday.

Cabell Midland will be tested by a Nitro offense that produced 58 points in a win over previously undefeated St. Albans, Huntington's opponent for the week.

In Ohio, Coal Grove and South Point headline OVC play while Rock Hill travels to Chesapeake and Fairland makes its acquaintence with River Valley at Dragon Stadium.