The Craig County football team is looking to end the regular season on a winning note as they prepare for their first playoff appearance since 2012. The Rockets will host Meadow View High of West Virginia this Friday at Mitchell Field.
Craig comes into the game at 5-4 and in sixth place in the Region 1C rankings. The top eight make the playoffs and Craig has only made the post-season three times since Craig County High opened in 1988. Prior to that New Castle High was never in the playoffs, although it was a lot tougher to make the playoffs back then as fewer teams advanced.
The Rockets currently have a rating of 14.55. Seventh place is Giles at 14.0 and eighth is Fort Chiswell at 11.6. No one below eighth place has won more than one game this season so the Rockets are locks to make the playoffs. If they stay in sixth place the most likely scenario to open the Region 1C playoffs would be a trip to Grayson County.
This Friday’s game is a big one for both teams. At 7-2 Meadow Bridge has clinched a playoff spot in the West Virginia playoffs but a win over Craig would mean a home game in the opening round. A Craig win would likely not earn the Rockets a higher seed, but it would clinch a winning season.
“If we win, we have a winning season but I don’t think it changes our playoff seeding unless there are some upsets this Friday,” said Rockets’ coach Jim Fisher.
Meadow Bridge is old school Power-I team and they are going to run straight downhill. Their running back, Kaiden Sims, has already rushed for over 2,000 yards this season.
“He’s going to get 30-40 carries on Friday and we have to rise up and play a super physical football game to match that power game,” said Fisher. “We have to finish our drives and punch the ball into the end zone. It’s going to be an old school, blue collar football game and I think it’s going to be a great game.”
The Rockets are coming off a 28-0 loss at Narrows last week. The Green Wave is currently fourth in the Region 1C rankings with a 5-4 record.
“Friday was a great effort, we played hard but we are making too many mistakes,” said Fisher. “Blocking the wrong direction, stepping with the wrong foot, taking bad angles. . .we’re still super young in several areas. Our five offensive line starters Friday were all ninth and 10th graders.
“They picked on our freshmen defensive backs some but they better do that while they can,” Fisher continued. “Our freshmen are going to be really, really good in the near future. We just need to clean things up and execute.”
The loss was the third in the row for the Rockets, all to Pioneer teams ranked above them in the VHSL ratings. The only game that was a total mismatch was Bath County, and they’ve been hammering everyone.
“We’ve been able to compete and move the ball in every game but Bath,” said Fisher.
