CHAPMANVILLE — Out of the frying pan, into the fire?

Well, not exactly, but the Point Pleasant Big Blacks’ final game of the regular season is equally as important as Herbert Hoover was a week ago and probably just as challenging.

Another state newspaper said the Point Pleasant/Chapmanville game will determine the whole bottom half of the Class AA playoff bracket. The Big Blacks have jumped to 10th this week after their big win over the Huskies last Friday night. A win this week and they probably stay right there in the final regular season ratings. However, if all the stars line up just right for the locals -- there is a mathematical chance that they will be home for the first round of the playoffs.

Chapmanville, meanwhile, is coming off a 40-17 loss to Wayne and they really need a win this week. They surely don’t want to go into the playoffs with a two game losing streak -- something they did a year ago after dropping their final two regular season games, also to Wayne and Point Pleasant.

The Tigers come into this important game with a 6-3 record and a 12th place ranking in this week’s WVSSAC ratings. Chapmanville has defeated Sissonville (34-19), Poca (30-26), Logan (21-14), Man (16-14), Tug Valley (47-0), and Tolsia (33-16). Their losses have come at the hands of Scott (32-8), Wayne (40-17), and Herbert Hoover (30-20). “Chapmanville is an impressive football team,” said PPHS Head Coach Dave Darst. “They have a good quarterback and two good running backs. They run the ball well and they can throw it, also. And, they need this game as badly as we need it. They are playing at home for the final time this season and they will have that going for them, also. We will need to be focused and ready to play football or this could be a long night for us,” added Darst.

The quarterback is Josh Easterling, a 6’2, 190 pound junior who is the second rated passer in the Cardinal Conference. Easterling doesn’t throw as often as Jamie Hurd from Hoover, but is just as effective. Before last week’s match up with Wayne, the talented junior had thrown for 1,070 yards, completing 70 of 126 passes. He had thrown 10 touchdown passes and had been picked off 5 times. His average completion yardage was slightly ahead of Hurds -- 15.2 yards per completion versus 15.0 yards per completion. His favorite target is sophomore Dylan Wiley, a 5’10, 155 pound sophomore. Before the contest with Wayne, Wiley had caught 22 passes for 428 yards and four touchdowns. Another receiver to look for is senior fullback Todd Terry (6’3, 225). Heading into the Wayne game, Terry had caught 20 passes for 273 yards and a couple of touchdowns.

Terry and Wiley are also listed on the conference’s rushing leader list. Through eight games, Terry rushed for 802 yards on 150 carries (5.4 average), while Wiley had rushed for 483 yards on 85 carries (5.7 average). Terry had 12 rushing touchdowns before last week and Wiley had 4.

For the Big Blacks, Nathan Roberts added 151 yards to his fine season last week and now stands at 1,361 yards on 166 carries. That equals a fine 8.2 yards per rush. Junior Chris Blankenship rushed for 95 yards on 11 carries a week ago, and is at 667 yards on 74 carries on the season. That figures out to a very fine 9.0 yards per rush average. Sophomore quarterback Eric Roberts played probably his best game a week ago, finishing 6 for 10 for 98 yards and a touchdown. On the season, Roberts is 36 for 76 for 564 yards.. He has thrown for 4 touchdowns, but had two touchdown passes dropped a week ago. Nathan Roberts is the leading receiver for the locals with 16 grabs for 263 yards.

The Big Blacks are pretty healthy heading into this final regular season game. The only major contributor not practicing this week is senior wide receiver Cody Greathouse, who has been absent all week with illness. Greathouse has caught seven passes on the year, but is a very valuable part of the running game due to his outstanding blocking ability. “If Cody can’t go Friday, we will certainly miss him, but we have Orrin Chason and Brandon Toler ready to step in,” said Darst. “Orrin did a nice job last week and made a nice catch in the end zone. Brandon is a very good athlete with good hands who will bring a lot to the wide receiver position. He also made a nice play a week ago when he threw that pass to Orrin,” added Darst.

Other than split end, the Big Blacks won’t change much from a week ago. Offensively, the starters will be Eric Roberts at quarterback with Nathan Roberts and Jerrod Long in the backfield along with either Derek Pinson, JaWaan Williams, or Chris Blankenship. All of them, though, will see playing time. The tight end is Beau Bellamy. Up front look for Casey Hogg, Gabe Starcher, Brock McClung, Clay Krebs, and Derry Osborne. Defensively, the starters will be Long, Trey Livingston, Krebs, Pinson, Michael Musgrave, Ryan Warner, Chauncey McClanahan, Layne Thompson, Donovan Powell, Williams, and Nathan Roberts.

“This is a big game for both of us and I’m really looking forward to Friday night,” said Darst. “This type of game, this atmosphere is what you go through two-a-days for. We have had a good week of practice, especially Wednesday. That was a very spirited practice.. The boys are ready, the coaches are ready -- let’s go!”

Kickoff is set for 7:30 at Chapmanville.