Publication: THE CHARLESTON GAZETTE
Published: 05/13/1999
Page: P1B

Speaking of high school football, don't expect a West Virginia team to
figure into the national high school championship game being proposed
by Fox.

In the first place, SSAC rules prohibit West Virginia teams from
playing beyond the state championship game, although an exception
could be granted. And a lot of other states have similar rules.

"I'm sure almost every state has rules similar to ours, and a school
would need to be granted an exception in order to play in a game like
that,' said SSAC executive secretary Warren Carter. "In fact, the
topic came up at a National Federation [of State High School
Associations] meeting in the last year or so, and the majority of
states were not in favor of it. Plus, the policy of the National
Federation is that they are not in favor of national championship
games.'

Still, the idea is likely to fly because of the money being floated
around. There will always be at least two top-notch teams ready,
willing and able to play the game.

And two is all you need, because the Fox proposal is for just a
one-game playoff, not a series of games. That's the other thing which
makes an appearance by a West Virginia school all but impossible.

The game would match two teams rated at the top of a national poll,
and even the best West Virginia high school teams are never that
highly regarded on a national scale. Take Nitro, for example. Last
year the Wildcats were 14-0 and had the nation's all-time career
passing leader. But although Nitro cracked USA Today's list of the top
teams in the East (the Wildcats were seventh), that wasn't good enough
to get even a sniff of the Top 25, much less the Top Two.

No, West Virginia and Marshall have a better chance of facing one
another in the Bowl Championship Series game than does a West Virginia
team of ever getting that much national respect.