Highlanders ready for postseason

HUNTINGTON -- The 2012 regular season certainly didn't end the way Huntington High football coach Billy Seals envisioned.

But, although Capital soundly defeated the Highlanders last week, 48-18, all the team's goals are still in front of them.

Fourth-rated Huntington High (8-2) begins the Class AAA playoff march Friday when No. 13 Elkins (7-3) comes calling at Bob Sang Field.

Other Friday games in West Virginia include Oak Hill at top-rated Cabell Midland, Wheeling Park at Spring Valley and Hurricane at George Washington in Class AAA; Clay County at top-rated Wayne in Class AA; and Buffalo at Wahama in Class A.

Ironton plays Johnstown-Monore in an Ohio Division IV, Region 15 game on a neutral field in Athens, Ohio.

Kentucky playoff games include Nicholas County at Fairview and Raceland at Pikeville in Class 1A; Lawrence County at Belfry in Class 2A; and Ashland at Highlands in Class 4A.

"The important thing to remember is that we're 0-0 now, as is everybody else," Seals said. "What we do from this point forward will dictate the goals that we reach."

Instead of being overly upset about the season-ending loss, Seals was looking at the loss in a positive way.

The Cougars exposed several things Huntington High needed to work on and the Highlanders practiced this week to shore up some of the issues.

Before last week the Highlanders had allowed just 79 points all season.

On video tape, Seals saw Capital make cutback after cutback to gain extra yardage on plays that could've been stopped for little to no gain.

For his defense, it gets down to one simple concept.

"We can't have just one guy get to the ball," Seals said. "We've got to have two, three, four, five guys get after the ball."

Pursuit of the football is especially important against Elkins, which features talented running back L.J. Lawrence.

Lawrence has rushed for more than 1,500 yards, but was the focus of controversy two weeks ago when the WVSSAC ruled him ineligible because he had moved into the Elkins area over the summer. It was later deemed that Lawrence's circumstances were protected by federal law, and the WVSSAC dropped its ruling of Lawrence being ineligible while also reinstating Elkins' seven victories.

The Tigers lost their season-finale to Lewis County 27-14 last week, dropping to No. 13 in the final ratings and setting up the bout with the Highlanders.

In addition to Lawrence, the Tigers feature running back Clayton Collett and also return 15 players from last year's squad, who also advanced to the Class AAA postseason before falling to Hurricane in a first-round shootout.