Southwestern: No. 7 Cabell Midland visits No. 9 Hurricane

By: Wes McKinney, WVMetroNews.com

George Washington (1-1) at AAA  No. 2 Huntington (2-0)

Huntington stymied Spring Valley as the Highlanders held the Timberwolves to just 55 rushing yards on 32 carries in a 17-13 road win.

“We felt like our defensive line had to play really well to win that football game — we controlled the line of scrimmage on the defensive side,” Huntington head coach Billy Seals said. “Our guys were challenged throughout practice and they stepped up to the challenge.”

Perhaps the biggest play of the game came, though, on a 53-yard field goal from Highlanders’ kicker Cason Kessinger to stretch out a Huntington lead to 17-7 in the third quarter.

“It was a momentum swing in the game,” Seals said. “It put us up 10 in the third quarter. Cason is standing next to me and we’re standing around deciding if we want to go for it or not.

“I looked at Cason and said ‘can you hit it?’ and he said ‘without a doubt,’” Seals continued. “He was feeling pretty good in the pregame, so we decided to try it. He’s the best kicker I’ve ever been around. If someone doesn’t pick him up, then they’re crazy.”

Even with the big win, Seals and his team has moved on from the Spring Valley game and began looking ahead to a Class AAA first round playoff rematch in 2015 that Huntington won.

“Grant Wells is good at quarterback,” Seals said of the George Washington signal caller. “He’s reminds me of Cross Wilkinson at Wheeling Park. They are much-improved on the offensive line. They have big, tall, athletic receivers on the outside that’s a big concern of ours.

“On defense, Tanner Williams gets after it at linebacker and Dakota Cosby is a good football player,” Seals said. “George Washington is always a well-coached football team. In my opinion, they’ve improved from the team we saw in the first round of the playoffs last season.”