Waterford’s Trace Harmon (30) carries the ball during last week’s game against Trimble. (Photo by Patricia Miller)

Hopes of reaching the playoffs have long since diminished for both the Warren Warriors and the Marietta Tigers.

That makes Friday nights season finale at Don Drumm Stadium a battle of pride with both teams looking to finish the season on a high note.

Both teams came into the season with brand new head coaches in Mike Kupfner for the Tigers and Jason Gandee for Warren but have struggled to identical 2-7 records.

The Tigers lost their first six games of the season before scoring a 14-6 win over Williamstown in week number seven.

Marietta picked up their second win of the season last week with a 34-16 win over Point Pleasant to notch their first Twin States League win of the season.

The Tigers trailed early but rallied for the win led by a three-touchdown performance from senior Owen Riley.

Riley gained 134 yards on 22 carries and scored touchdowns in the second, third and final quarters of play.

Fellow senior Kobe Alexander rushed for 83 yards on just seven touches while Will Tornes and Braydon Frye both rushed for over 50 yards for the orange and black.

A win for the Tigers would give them three in the final four games of the season and give them some momentum heading into the 2026 season.

Warren’s two wins have come at the hands of a pair of winless teams in Logan and Point Pleasant.

Last week the Warriors became the latest victims of the Fort Frye Cadets as they fell 46-8.

The Warriors did manage to do what no other team had done in nearly six games and that was to score an offensive touchdown against the Fort Frye defense.

Tanner Pepper caught a pass from quarterback Declan Johnson and out-ran everyone into the end zone for a 32-yard touchdown late in the first half to snap the streak and provide the Warriors with their only points of the game.

Pepper led the Warriors in rushing with 57 yards on four carries while Jude Daly caught seven passes for 76 yards.

Last season in Vincent the Warriors routed Marietta 35-16.

WATERFORD (7-2) at BELPRE (2-7)

BELPRE — The Waterford Wildcats will look to put an exclamation point on yet another outstanding regular season when they visit the Belpre Golden Eagles Friday night.

The Wildcats played a brutal schedule early on and suffered defeats at the hands of Fort Frye and Nelsonville-York but have got things rolling in the second half of the season and find themselves ranked second in the latest D-7, region 27 standings.

The Wildcat defense has not allowed a single point over the past three weeks in wins over Tri Valley Conference opponents Southern, Federal Hocking and Trimble.

Waterford has clinched at least a top four spot in the rankings meaning they will host at least their first playoff game.

In last week’s shellacking of Trimble, the Eric McCutcheon-led Wildcats scored all 47 of their points in the opening half.

Hayden Jones rushed for 125 yards and three touchdowns while Avery Pottmeyer completed 7-of-9 pass attempts for 177 yards and three touchdowns with Trevin Zimmer, Weston Fairchild and Gavin Hiener catching one apiece.

The 2025 season has been a bit of a struggle for the Kevin Welsh-coached Belpre squad who own a pair of wins over Federal Hocking and Green.

Last week the Eagles fell to Eastern 55-14.

Belpre’s two scores came on a four-yard touchdown run by Jayden Gibbs and a 62-yard pass from Malik Currie to Malakai Ensor.

Last year at home the Wildcats routed Belpre 55-0 in the season finale.

POINT PLEASANT (0-7) at FORT FRYE (7-1)

BEVERLY — Last week’s win over Warren not only extended Fort Frye’s winning streak to seven games but it also vaulted them into the No. 1 spot in the latest D-6, Region 23 standings and clinched a Twin States League Championship.

Friday the Cadets will get one final tuneup before what they hope will be a long play-off run when they host the winless Point Pleasant Big Blacks.

The Cadets went nearly 24 quarters without allowing a single point on defense before Warren finally broke free with a touchdown with just 16-seconds to play in the opening half.

Despite that incredible streak being snapped the Cadets till had an outstanding defensive game as they limited Warren to just 196 total yards and seven first downs while forcing five turnovers including a 62-yard interception return for a score by freshman Clayton Tullius.

Tyce Beardsley led a balanced Fort Frye offensive attack with 117 rushing yards on nine carries while Gavin Rauch added 55 yards on 12 carries.

Zavier Springer got a rare opportunity to run the football and rushed for 28 yards on a fake punt for a first down for the Cadets.

Among the key contributors for Point Pleasant are quarterback Caiden Hill and receiver Braxton Bauer.

Last season the Cadets easily handled Point Pleasant 35-7.

RIVER (5-4) at FRONTIER (3-6)

NEW MATAMORAS — The Frontier Cougars had hoped that Friday nights showdown with arch-rival River would have playoff implications but a week -nine loss to Shenandoah has brought those hopes to a win.

The Cougars would still love to finish on a strong note as they attempt to hand the Pilots a season-ending defeat for the second consecutive season.

Last week the Damon Metheney-coached Cougars put up a strong battle against a red-hot Shenandoah team before falling at home 32-22.

Frontier had a 14-point second quarter lead before allowing the Zeps to tie it and regained the lead in the third quarter before Shenandoah scored the final 18 points of the game to secure the win.

Cougar quarterback Aaden Bills completed 17-of-27 pass attempts for 249 yards and a touchdown while rushing for two scores.

Avery Powell hauled in 7 of those passes for 155 yards while Austyn Kephart caught 5 for 73.

River comes into the game needing a win and a bit of help as they are currently ranked No. 16 in the latest D-7 rankings and would need to move up four spots to qualify for the postseason.

Last week River was beaten soundly by the Caldwell Redskins 40-7.

Key players for the Pilots include lineman Carter Piatt and running backs Wyatt Stalder and Trey Larrick.

Last year in Hanibal the Cougars nipped River in a defensive classic 7 to 6.

MORGAN (6-3) at PHILO (6-3)

DUNCAN FALLS — It’s simply hard to imagine two football teams who came into a do-or-die game that appear so even on paper.

Friday night the Morgan Raiders make the short trip to Philo High School to battle the Electrics in a game that will likely send the winner onto the postseason and the loser home.

Both teams come into the game with identical 6-3 wins and have played six common opponents with their records both 3-3.

To take it a little farther both teams picked up wins against the same three teams while falling to the same three as well.

Morgan comes into the game the winners of four of their last five games including last week’s 47-0 demolishing of River View.

The Seth Brown-coached Raiders scored 21 points in the first quarter and followed that up with 19 more in the second to build a 40-point lead and activate the running clock for the entire second half of the game.

The win gave the Raiders a chance to rest a lot of kids as no Morgan back carried the ball more than five times and quarterback Haiden Pauley put the ball in the air just seven times.

Shane Harney ran for a pair of touchdowns while Hayden Bankes, Tanner Bankes, and Casen Foley each ran for one.

The Electrics snapped a two-game skid last week with a 31-13 win over John Glenn.

Philo had came up on the short end of the stick in their prior two games against Sheridan and Tri Valley.

Key players of concern that the Raiders will need to focus on include Philo quarterback Jack Lincicome and running back Slade Sprankle.

Morgan is currently holding down the 12th and final position in the latest D-5, Region 19 rankings while Philo is ranked 7th in D-4, Region 15.

Last year the Raiders nipped the Electrics 14-13 in the season final at McConnelsville.

DODDRIDGE (7-0) at WILLIAMSTOWN (3-4)

WILLIAMSTOWN — The Yellowjackets have simply owned Doddridge County over the past few years as they have won seven consecutive times against the Bulldogs with all but one of those contests being decided by less than 10 points.

Despite those seven straight wins the ‘Jackets may well come into the game as a bit of an under dog at home against a Doddridge County team that has reeled off seven consecutive wins to start the season.

Last week Doddridge County routed Braxton County 45-15 after downing South Harrison 34-8 the week before.

Key players for the Bulldogs include quarterback Brycen Dixon, running back Lyric Blake and receiver Landon Thomas.

The ‘Jackets come into the game on a bit of a roll of their own after back-to-back wins over Poca (38-19)and South Harrison (54-36).

Key players to watch for the Chris Beck-coached ‘Jackets include quarterback Breck Allen, running backs Jackson Kerr, Carter Hoops and

Jacob McVicker as well as receivers Carson Haines and lineman Christian Hoover.

Last season the ‘Jackets downed the Bulldogs 35-13.

SHENANDOAH (5-4) at CALDWELL (6-3)

CALDWELL — The Caldwell Redskins will get to host the “Noble County Super Bowl” at their brand new facility Friday night when they welcome in the red-hot Shenandoah Zeps in a battle of two teams with playoff hopes still alive.

Caldwell is currently ranked 10th in the latest D-6, Region 23 standings and control their own destiny according to Joe Eitel meaning a win over the Zeps would secure a spot in the postseason for the Chance Rucker-led Redskins.

Last week the Redskins rolled to a 40-7 win in a much anticipated matchup with the River Pilots.

Caldwell has won five out of their last six games and hold a perfect 93-0) record in their new facility.

Key players for Caldwell include running back Gavin Leake and quarterback Izic Cool.

The Zeps season has taken a similar path as Caldwell’s as they opened the season with three losses in a row but have reeled off wins in five of their final six games as well to keep themselves in the hunt for a post season berth.

Last week at Frontier the Zeps spotted the Cougars a two-touchdown lead before recovering and eventually going on to score 18 unanswered points en route to a 32-22 win.

Hunter Street had a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown for the Zeps while Brody Brown fired two touchdown passes

Caden Vanfossen ran the ball 24 times for 144 yards while Brown completed 9-of-12 pass attempts for 217 yards including three each to Ethan Cutlip and Davyn Kunkle for 98 and 63 yards respectively.

Shenandoah must first find a way to get a W over Caldwell and then get a little help from some friends to find a way to creep up from their current 17th place in the latest D-6 rankings and into the top 12.

Last season in Sarahsville, Caldwell blanked the Zeps 37-0.