For Hurricane, it's been the difference between day and night.
The Redskins have played some of their best ball on Saturday afternoons under coach Willis May, and they get another shot at daytime success this week when they tangle with unbeaten George Washington at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in a Class AAA playoff quarterfinal game in South Hills.
May and day games go way back - all the way back to his second-ever game as Hurricane head coach in 2004 when the Skins blanked Ripley 35-0 in Ravenswood, holding the Vikings to two first downs and 42 net yards.
Since then, some of the team's highest highs have come under the sun:
In 2005, the Redskins spoiled St. Albans' homecoming by taking a 17-0 win, then followed that in the playoffs with perhaps their crown jewel - a 26-21 first-round victory at Martinsburg, a win enhanced by a well-timed fake punt call.
The next season, SA came to Hurricane for a daytime homecoming contest and the Skins won that one, too, 38-16. The following year, St. Albans played in the AAA state finals.
In 2008-09, Hurricane and Brooke traded home-and-home day games, and the Skins swept both - 33-27 in overtime at Wellsburg in 2008 and 54-15 at Hurricane in 2009. The next two seasons, the Bruins made it all the way to the AAA title game.
A year ago, the Skins stamped themselves as AAA contenders in their third game with an impressive 49-21 matinee win at Spring Valley.
Then last week, Hurricane rallied from a three-touchdown deficit to erase Elkins 54-30 in a first-round playoff game at Buckhannon.
About the only daytime down note in May's eight seasons as coach was a 20-16 loss at East Fairmont in the opening round of the 2007 playoffs.
"We really do like Saturday afternoon games,'' May said. "It's a big-time atmosphere, and we enjoy it. And our track record's pretty good.''
Hurricane fans probably expected it, but May wasn't sure if GW athletic officials were surprised when he requested a Saturday afternoon kickoff time for this week's quarterfinal - owing to the short distance between the schools. (Home teams in the playoffs pick the game site and visiting teams the day and time).
"I don't know if they were surprised,'' May said, "but I don't know if they were happy, either. I felt like it was best for us. We can use the extra day [of preparation] and try to get a couple guys healthy.''
QBs quietly blossom
George Washington isn't passing as much this season as it has recently, but the Patriots are still having success when they do put the ball in the air.
Junior Trevor Bell, a first-year starter, has attempted only 84 passes through 11 games in GW's run-heavy offense with tailback Ryan Switzer. Bell has tried as many as 10 passes in a game just three times this season despite having big-play receivers such as Malik Hampton, Tino diTrapano and Switzer at the ready.
However, Bell's 15 touchdown passes compare favorably to the two previous seasons when GW threw a lot more.
Nick Britton, a two-year starter under center, last season had thrown almost twice as many passes as Bell through 11 games (154), and had 18 TD tosses. The year before, Bell threw 128 passes in the first 11 games with 16 scoring passes.
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Hurricane has made most of its moments in the sun
Class AAA playoff notebook
For Hurricane, it's been the difference between day and night.
The Redskins have played some of their best ball on Saturday afternoons under coach Willis May, and they get another shot at daytime success this week when they tangle with unbeaten George Washington at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in a Class AAA playoff quarterfinal game in South Hills.
May and day games go way back - all the way back to his second-ever game as Hurricane head coach in 2004 when the Skins blanked Ripley 35-0 in Ravenswood, holding the Vikings to two first downs and 42 net yards.
Since then, some of the team's highest highs have come under the sun:
In 2005, the Redskins spoiled St. Albans' homecoming by taking a 17-0 win, then followed that in the playoffs with perhaps their crown jewel - a 26-21 first-round victory at Martinsburg, a win enhanced by a well-timed fake punt call.
The next season, SA came to Hurricane for a daytime homecoming contest and the Skins won that one, too, 38-16. The following year, St. Albans played in the AAA state finals.
In 2008-09, Hurricane and Brooke traded home-and-home day games, and the Skins swept both - 33-27 in overtime at Wellsburg in 2008 and 54-15 at Hurricane in 2009. The next two seasons, the Bruins made it all the way to the AAA title game.
A year ago, the Skins stamped themselves as AAA contenders in their third game with an impressive 49-21 matinee win at Spring Valley.
Then last week, Hurricane rallied from a three-touchdown deficit to erase Elkins 54-30 in a first-round playoff game at Buckhannon.
About the only daytime down note in May's eight seasons as coach was a 20-16 loss at East Fairmont in the opening round of the 2007 playoffs.
"We really do like Saturday afternoon games,'' May said. "It's a big-time atmosphere, and we enjoy it. And our track record's pretty good.''
Hurricane fans probably expected it, but May wasn't sure if GW athletic officials were surprised when he requested a Saturday afternoon kickoff time for this week's quarterfinal - owing to the short distance between the schools. (Home teams in the playoffs pick the game site and visiting teams the day and time).
"I don't know if they were surprised,'' May said, "but I don't know if they were happy, either. I felt like it was best for us. We can use the extra day [of preparation] and try to get a couple guys healthy.''
QBs quietly blossom
George Washington isn't passing as much this season as it has recently, but the Patriots are still having success when they do put the ball in the air.
Junior Trevor Bell, a first-year starter, has attempted only 84 passes through 11 games in GW's run-heavy offense with tailback Ryan Switzer. Bell has tried as many as 10 passes in a game just three times this season despite having big-play receivers such as Malik Hampton, Tino diTrapano and Switzer at the ready.
However, Bell's 15 touchdown passes compare favorably to the two previous seasons when GW threw a lot more.
Nick Britton, a two-year starter under center, last season had thrown almost twice as many passes as Bell through 11 games (154), and had 18 TD tosses. The year before, Bell threw 128 passes in the first 11 games with 16 scoring passes.
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For Hurricane, it's been the difference between day and night.
The Redskins have played some of their best ball on Saturday afternoons under coach Willis May, and they get another shot at daytime success this week when they tangle with unbeaten George Washington at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in a Class AAA playoff quarterfinal game in South Hills.
May and day games go way back - all the way back to his second-ever game as Hurricane head coach in 2004 when the Skins blanked Ripley 35-0 in Ravenswood, holding the Vikings to two first downs and 42 net yards.
Since then, some of the team's highest highs have come under the sun:
In 2005, the Redskins spoiled St. Albans' homecoming by taking a 17-0 win, then followed that in the playoffs with perhaps their crown jewel - a 26-21 first-round victory at Martinsburg, a win enhanced by a well-timed fake punt call.
The next season, SA came to Hurricane for a daytime homecoming contest and the Skins won that one, too, 38-16. The following year, St. Albans played in the AAA state finals.
In 2008-09, Hurricane and Brooke traded home-and-home day games, and the Skins swept both - 33-27 in overtime at Wellsburg in 2008 and 54-15 at Hurricane in 2009. The next two seasons, the Bruins made it all the way to the AAA title game.
A year ago, the Skins stamped themselves as AAA contenders in their third game with an impressive 49-21 matinee win at Spring Valley.
Then last week, Hurricane rallied from a three-touchdown deficit to erase Elkins 54-30 in a first-round playoff game at Buckhannon.
About the only daytime down note in May's eight seasons as coach was a 20-16 loss at East Fairmont in the opening round of the 2007 playoffs.
"We really do like Saturday afternoon games,'' May said. "It's a big-time atmosphere, and we enjoy it. And our track record's pretty good.''
Hurricane fans probably expected it, but May wasn't sure if GW athletic officials were surprised when he requested a Saturday afternoon kickoff time for this week's quarterfinal - owing to the short distance between the schools. (Home teams in the playoffs pick the game site and visiting teams the day and time).
"I don't know if they were surprised,'' May said, "but I don't know if they were happy, either. I felt like it was best for us. We can use the extra day [of preparation] and try to get a couple guys healthy.''
QBs quietly blossom
George Washington isn't passing as much this season as it has recently, but the Patriots are still having success when they do put the ball in the air.
Junior Trevor Bell, a first-year starter, has attempted only 84 passes through 11 games in GW's run-heavy offense with tailback Ryan Switzer. Bell has tried as many as 10 passes in a game just three times this season despite having big-play receivers such as Malik Hampton, Tino diTrapano and Switzer at the ready.
However, Bell's 15 touchdown passes compare favorably to the two previous seasons when GW threw a lot more.
Nick Britton, a two-year starter under center, last season had thrown almost twice as many passes as Bell through 11 games (154), and had 18 TD tosses. The year before, Bell threw 128 passes in the first 11 games with 16 scoring passes.
"If you look at it,'' said GW coach Steve Edwards Jr., "we haven't thrown much, but we have had success throwing the football with that many touchdown passes. We don't think that's much of a difference [than past years].
"Sure, we could put the ball up in the air a little bit more, but the numbers are close to the same [in TD passes]. We think we can do it if we need to do it, but we have been effective when we're able to do it. We have good confidence we can throw the football when needed. But we have confidence in the run, too. We're fortunate we've been able to execute and put points on the board and we haven't had to force ourselves one way or the other.''
Hurricane, meanwhile, seems to be giving its own first-year QB, sophomore Austin Hensley, more responsibility as the season grows older.
Through the first five games, Hensley was feeling his way around the offense, completing less than 40 percent of his passes (22-of-56) for only 46 yards per game with three TDs and four interceptions. He never tried more than 14 passes in a game.
Since then, however, he's blossomed. He's throwing more, and getting more out of it.
Over his last six games, Hensley's hit on 64-of-104 attempts (62 percent) and averages 140 yards per game with six TDs and five picks. He's also run for six of his seven touchdowns over the last six contests and is trusted enough to have attempted 19 or more passes three times in that stretch.
"I feel 110 percent comfortable with my abilities at quarterback,'' Hensley said, "because of my offensive line and my receivers. It's fun.''
The development of another Redskins soph, receiver Corey May (son of Willis May) has doubtlessly helped Hensley.
The two have been an unstoppable combination the last two games, with Corey May catching a total of 18 passes for 272 yards and two TDs.
"He's getting a little bit more confident in his abilities and running better routes,'' Willis May said. "He's coming into his own. He's a good sophomore, and we've got a bunch of good sophomores who just keep working hard and improving. They're going to be good by the time they're seniors. He's no different than the others.
"The good thing about it is that he's been able to do something about it after the catch. He got us back into that [Elkins] game after we gave up a couple cheap touchdowns. He and Austin hooked up a couple times, and we were back in it.''
Third year's the charm
Huntington coach Billy Seals, who endured an 0-10 season in his first year, had a plan for success when he took the job and has been able to stick with it.
"I thought somewhere around the third or fourth year, you start thinking about playoffs,'' Seals said. "I think we're a little bit ahead of schedule with what we've done this year, and that's fine with me.''
Did he get discouraged two years ago during the 0-10 season?
"No. I think I saw and a lot of the kids saw that we were getting better, but everything was totally new for our kids - terminology, new staff, different offense, different defense. We had our growing pains that year. Losing's contagious. We got on that little bad spell before I got here, 1-9, 1-9 and then 0-10. We got on track a little bit last year in the fourth game at Riverside and really since that game, if my math's correct, we're 12-8 in those last 20.''
Mike Whiteford contributed to this report. Reach Rick Ryan at 304-348-5175 or rickr...@wvgazette.com.
Article Preview
This article is available only to our premium digital content subscribers.
Hurricane has made most of its moments in the sun
Class AAA playoff notebook
For Hurricane, it's been the difference between day and night.
The Redskins have played some of their best ball on Saturday afternoons under coach Willis May, and they get another shot at daytime success this week when they tangle with unbeaten George Washington at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in a Class AAA playoff quarterfinal game in South Hills.
May and day games go way back - all the way back to his second-ever game as Hurricane head coach in 2004 when the Skins blanked Ripley 35-0 in Ravenswood, holding the Vikings to two first downs and 42 net yards.
Since then, some of the team's highest highs have come under the sun:
In 2005, the Redskins spoiled St. Albans' homecoming by taking a 17-0 win, then followed that in the playoffs with perhaps their crown jewel - a 26-21 first-round victory at Martinsburg, a win enhanced by a well-timed fake punt call.
The next season, SA came to Hurricane for a daytime homecoming contest and the Skins won that one, too, 38-16. The following year, St. Albans played in the AAA state finals.
In 2008-09, Hurricane and Brooke traded home-and-home day games, and the Skins swept both - 33-27 in overtime at Wellsburg in 2008 and 54-15 at Hurricane in 2009. The next two seasons, the Bruins made it all the way to the AAA title game.
A year ago, the Skins stamped themselves as AAA contenders in their third game with an impressive 49-21 matinee win at Spring Valley.
Then last week, Hurricane rallied from a three-touchdown deficit to erase Elkins 54-30 in a first-round playoff game at Buckhannon.
About the only daytime down note in May's eight seasons as coach was a 20-16 loss at East Fairmont in the opening round of the 2007 playoffs.
"We really do like Saturday afternoon games,'' May said. "It's a big-time atmosphere, and we enjoy it. And our track record's pretty good.''
Hurricane fans probably expected it, but May wasn't sure if GW athletic officials were surprised when he requested a Saturday afternoon kickoff time for this week's quarterfinal - owing to the short distance between the schools. (Home teams in the playoffs pick the game site and visiting teams the day and time).
"I don't know if they were surprised,'' May said, "but I don't know if they were happy, either. I felt like it was best for us. We can use the extra day [of preparation] and try to get a couple guys healthy.''
QBs quietly blossom
George Washington isn't passing as much this season as it has recently, but the Patriots are still having success when they do put the ball in the air.
Junior Trevor Bell, a first-year starter, has attempted only 84 passes through 11 games in GW's run-heavy offense with tailback Ryan Switzer. Bell has tried as many as 10 passes in a game just three times this season despite having big-play receivers such as Malik Hampton, Tino diTrapano and Switzer at the ready.
However, Bell's 15 touchdown passes compare favorably to the two previous seasons when GW threw a lot more.
Nick Britton, a two-year starter under center, last season had thrown almost twice as many passes as Bell through 11 games (154), and had 18 TD tosses. The year before, Bell threw 128 passes in the first 11 games with 16 scoring passes.
