WOAY – Three area teams are headed to the Class AA football playoffs with Friday night matchups.
Second-seed Bluefield will host Braxton County at Mitchell Stadium, with the Beavers looking to stay unbeaten in 2017. They are one of six teams to enter the postseason 10-0. Their season-opening win against Graham was the only time they were held under 20 points. They are looking to improve on recent playoff appearances, with a first round loss in 2014 and a quarterfinal loss in 2015.
James Monroe will face Winfield in the 6-11 matchup for a second straight year, with the Mavericks coming from behind to win against the Generals in Lindside in 2016. This year’s Mavericks team enters the postseason after a Week 10 loss at Bluefield to close the regular season, but they’ve scored just under 42 points on average in their eight wins. They made the Class AA semifinals a season ago.
Nicholas County is the #9 seed and will head to Liberty (Harrison) on Friday. The Grizzlies are in the postseason for a second straight year, and are looking for a better result after their first round loss to Keyser. They opened 2017 with four straight wins before losses in consecutive weeks to James Monroe & Braxton County, but rebounded with four straight wins to enter the playoffs 8-2.
