Week 1: Season Long Implications

Alex Wiederspiel and Chris Johnson return to preview the opening week of regional action in West Virginia High School football (0:00). Robert C. Byrd is looking to avoid missing the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for just the second time in their history as play-by-play man Bill Nestor explains (5:23). Shane Eakle, East Fairmont Head Coach, calls into the show to discuss his team's disappointing start, one that mirrors last year's start for a team that ultimately was playoff bound (15:53).Travis Jones, long-time Bridgeport play-by-play man, joins the show to preview Bridgeport's quest to take that final step to a championship in Class AAA, which starts with a much improved Buckhannon-Upshur team (22:12). Chris George breaks down some of the X's and O's in that game, plus delivers updates on whether Elkins can take their first step out of a rebuild, dark horse darling Philip Barbour's progress, and the high-flying Tucker County Mountain Lions quest to return to the playoffs for a second year in a row (36:07).The final third of the show focuses on Lincoln with play-by-play man Craig Dutton (47:28). Alex and Chris talk about South Harrison's youth (57:26). You can hear a full interview with Coach Brett Hathaway linked below. Then the King of High School Football in West Virginia, Fred Persinger, joins the show to talk about what's surprised him so far in Week 1 plus the games he has circled in red pen Friday night (1:00:27).Listen to a full interview with Brett Hathaway, South Harrison's third-year head coach, as he discusses the youth movement in Lost Creek following the Hawks trip to the playoffs in 2022 on the first episode of Hawk Talk Weekly.