CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Few things rival a game against your neighboring rival - especially when you have the state's top ranking hanging in the balance.

South Charleston, the No. 1 Class AAA team in West Virginia, puts its 3-0 start on the line tonight when it travels a few miles down MacCorkle Avenue for a matchup with St. Albans. Kickoff is set for 7:30 at Crawford Field.

Last year, it was SA that was riding high at this point in the schedule - 3-0 and ranked sixth in AAA while SC was winless. However, that didn't prevent the Black Eagles from nearly pulling off the upset, as they fell 41-40 in the game's final minutes.

This time around, the Red Dragons (1-2) are the ones experiencing growing pains, but SC coach John Messinger isn't about to look past SA.

"You can throw the records out right here,'' he said. "It's such a tremendous rivalry game for them and for us. I know [SA coach] Derek [Christian] will have those kids prepared to come out and give every ounce of energy they have.

"We told our kids all week that the worst thing you can face is a wounded animal - and looking at their record, they're wounded now. But they're still St. Albans and they're still just a few months off a championship game appearance. Sure they're inexperienced, but you forget about all of that when you play for St. Albans. They've got pride.''

Christian, who took SA to the Super Six in Wheeling last season, realizes many of the players in tonight's game will be amped up to face their rivals, but he's just trying to get his team to avoid the mistakes that have cropped up the last two weeks.

The Red Dragons turned the ball over seven times in last week's 41-14 loss at Princeton, and had three turnovers in a 44-14 setback to Spring Valley the week before.

"Obviously, turnovers are our biggest enemy right now,'' Christian said. "Two of them have gone for touchdowns the other way. Both of them came on the second play of the game. We're just not starting out on the right foot.

"Last week, we had a good kickoff return to their 20-something, and the next play was a touchdown for them. The ball hit a kid right in the hands and bounced up in the air, and there they went.''

St. Albans, which has freshmen and sophomores sprinkled through its lineup, will also be a little shorthanded for tonight's game. Starting quarterback Duran Workman remains sidelined with a hip injury, and tailback Markus Guy sits out one more game for breaking team rules.

Marcus Fox, who ran for 1,304 yards and 19 TDs in 61/2 games last year before suffering a knee injury, owns just 199 yards in three games so far this season. Guy, who ran for 1,380 yards and 11 scores a year ago, has gained only 47 yards in his two games.

"They were successful last year,'' Christian said, "so people are going to be keying on them. They've got to understand that, and I think they do. But we can't sit around and dwell on the past. We don't have time for that.''

St. Albans will have to contend with a versatile and deep SC offense.

The Black Eagles average 205 yards rushing and 157 passing. In last week's 39-7 demolition of Parkersburg, SC wound up with 500 total yards and zero turnovers. Three different players threw TD passes - Marcel Brown, Tyler Harris and Drew Orcutt.

Messinger said SC's players aren't satisfied with what they've achieved so far, and hope to continue on the same path they've been traveling.

"We spend the first 15 minutes of each practice sitting in the bleachers discussing our day,'' Messinger said. "We discuss what kind of student-athletes and sons we're going to be. We really do that every day. You talk about character and people skills. That's been a part of Coach [Bob] Dawson's basketball program the last two years, and those kids are used to being successful and being one of the top-ranked teams in the state.

"The kids understand what it took to get here [to No. 1] and what it takes to stay here. Actually, they really aren't concerned about the rating right now. They're thrilled to have it, but they want to practice hard and play hard and stay undefeated. We're far from the best team we could be. We won't accept the fact we're at the top, but we accept the fact we have to work really hard.''

Reach Rick Ryan at 348-5175 or  rickr...@wvgazette.com.

Tonight's schedule

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Few things rival a game against your neighboring rival - especially when you have the state's top ranking hanging in the balance.

South Charleston, the No. 1 Class AAA team in West Virginia, puts its 3-0 start on the line tonight when it travels a few miles down MacCorkle Avenue for a matchup with St. Albans. Kickoff is set for 7:30 at Crawford Field.

Last year, it was SA that was riding high at this point in the schedule - 3-0 and ranked sixth in AAA while SC was winless. However, that didn't prevent the Black Eagles from nearly pulling off the upset, as they fell 41-40 in the game's final minutes.

This time around, the Red Dragons (1-2) are the ones experiencing growing pains, but SC coach John Messinger isn't about to look past SA.

"You can throw the records out right here,'' he said. "It's such a tremendous rivalry game for them and for us. I know [SA coach] Derek [Christian] will have those kids prepared to come out and give every ounce of energy they have.

"We told our kids all week that the worst thing you can face is a wounded animal - and looking at their record, they're wounded now. But they're still St. Albans and they're still just a few months off a championship game appearance. Sure they're inexperienced, but you forget about all of that when you play for St. Albans. They've got pride.''

Christian, who took SA to the Super Six in Wheeling last season, realizes many of the players in tonight's game will be amped up to face their rivals, but he's just trying to get his team to avoid the mistakes that have cropped up the last two weeks.

The Red Dragons turned the ball over seven times in last week's 41-14 loss at Princeton, and had three turnovers in a 44-14 setback to Spring Valley the week before.

"Obviously, turnovers are our biggest enemy right now,'' Christian said. "Two of them have gone for touchdowns the other way. Both of them came on the second play of the game. We're just not starting out on the right foot.

"Last week, we had a good kickoff return to their 20-something, and the next play was a touchdown for them. The ball hit a kid right in the hands and bounced up in the air, and there they went.''

St. Albans, which has freshmen and sophomores sprinkled through its lineup, will also be a little shorthanded for tonight's game. Starting quarterback Duran Workman remains sidelined with a hip injury, and tailback Markus Guy sits out one more game for breaking team rules.

Marcus Fox, who ran for 1,304 yards and 19 TDs in 61/2 games last year before suffering a knee injury, owns just 199 yards in three games so far this season. Guy, who ran for 1,380 yards and 11 scores a year ago, has gained only 47 yards in his two games.

"They were successful last year,'' Christian said, "so people are going to be keying on them. They've got to understand that, and I think they do. But we can't sit around and dwell on the past. We don't have time for that.''

St. Albans will have to contend with a versatile and deep SC offense.

The Black Eagles average 205 yards rushing and 157 passing. In last week's 39-7 demolition of Parkersburg, SC wound up with 500 total yards and zero turnovers. Three different players threw TD passes - Marcel Brown, Tyler Harris and Drew Orcutt.

Messinger said SC's players aren't satisfied with what they've achieved so far, and hope to continue on the same path they've been traveling.

"We spend the first 15 minutes of each practice sitting in the bleachers discussing our day,'' Messinger said. "We discuss what kind of student-athletes and sons we're going to be. We really do that every day. You talk about character and people skills. That's been a part of Coach [Bob] Dawson's basketball program the last two years, and those kids are used to being successful and being one of the top-ranked teams in the state.

"The kids understand what it took to get here [to No. 1] and what it takes to stay here. Actually, they really aren't concerned about the rating right now. They're thrilled to have it, but they want to practice hard and play hard and stay undefeated. We're far from the best team we could be. We won't accept the fact we're at the top, but we accept the fact we have to work really hard.''

Reach Rick Ryan at 348-5175 or  rickr...@wvgazette.com.

Tonight's schedule

All games at 7:30 p.m.