In the school's first playoff appearance since 2006, Huntington High rushed for more than 400 yards in a 56-20 shellacking of tradition-rich Parkersburg in the first round of the Class AAA playoffs Friday night at Bob Sang Field. Elijah King finished the contest with 206 all-purpose yards -- 142 on nine carries and 64 on two catches - with two touchdowns to help lead the charge. Quarterback Mark Shaver also finished with one of his best games in a Huntington High uniform, accounting for three touchdown passes and a 24-yard jaunt that capped the scoring in the game's final minute. The win was Huntington High's first playoff win since a 55-28 win over Nitro in the 2003 season. It was the first home playoff game at HHS since 2004. Huntington improves to 8-3 and will make the long trip to Martinsburg for a second round playoff game on Saturday. The Big Reds end their season at 7-4.

Story from Grant Traylor, Herald-Dispatch

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Also Friday, Martinsburg tailback Chris Perkins gave Woodrow Wilson a steady diet of offense as he rushed for 136 yards and scored four touchdowns to lead the top-ranked and undefeted Bulldogs to a 49-13 victory in the opening round of the West Virginia Class AAA state playoffs at Cobourn Field. Perkins helped the Bulldogs in every aspect as he rushed for two touchdowns, caught a pass for another and returned a punt 93 yards for his fourth score to give the Bulldogs a 28-13 halftime lead. He also intercepted two passes, one in the end zone, to turn back the Flying Eagles. The win was the first step in Martinsburg’s title defense and extended its winning streak to 25 games. Martinsburg defeated Brook 30-0 in last year's AAA title game. The Bulldogs lost in championship contests in 2001, 2003, 2004, and 2006.

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News Talk 800 WVHU will air the Huntington vs. Martinsburg game this Saturday afternoon with the pregame beginning at 1:05, kickoff is 1:30. You can also listen on-line at 800wvhu.com/ and on iHeartRadio.

Huntington High began its season-ending three-gme road trip Friday night with its best performance of the year, a 31-0 shutout of the Greenbrier East Spartans in Fairlea, WV.

The Highlanders broke out to a 17-0 halftime lead thanks to a first quarter 32 yard field goal by Zach Stevens and two second half touchdowns, a five yard run by Elijah King and a 19 yard halfback pass from Nick Tubbs to Toquan Hayes.

Huntington put the game away with two 3rd quarter touchdowns, a 70 yard Elijah King run and a seven yard pass from Mark Shaver to Toquan Hayes.

The Highlanders rolled up 422 total yards in the game, Elijah King amassing 175 yards--109 on the ground and 66 through teh air.  Toquan Hayes had 90 yards on five catches.

Josh Grubbs had 61 yards in a losing effort for Greenbrier East.

With the win, Huntington is now 5-3 on the season, while Greenbrier East falls to 3-5.

Huntington stays on the road as it fights for a Class AAA playoff spot, travelling to Quincy, WV next Friday to face the Riverside Warriors.

After last week's heartbreaking senior night loss to Logan, the 4-3 Huntington Highlanders must do its work the hard way in order to make the 2011 W.Va. Class AAA playoffs.

The Highlanders are now 15th in the Class AAA rankings and they must at least maintain top 16 status the rest of the season to make the postseason as they play their final three regular season games on the road.

That season ending road trip starts Friday night as Huntington makes the long trip to Fairlea, W.Va. to face the Greenbrier East Spartans. 

The Spartans enter the game with a 3-4 record after a loss last week to Hurricane, but among Greenbrier East's wins this year is a road triumph at Spring Valley.

You can hear Friday night's Huntington-Greenbrier East game live on-line at www.800wvhu.com or on IHeart radio, starting at 7:05, plus the game will be presented on a tape delayed basis late Friday night on Newstalk 800 WVHU following the WVU-Syracuse broadcast.

A real heartbreaker on Highlander hill on Friday night as Huntington High celebrated Senior Night in the wrong way with a 28-27 loss to the Logan Wildcats.

The loss came despite the fact that Huntington held a 27-13 lead with less than five minutes left in the game.

Logan dominated the game's first half with two touchdowns.  The Cats used nearly 10 minutes of the first quarter as Joe Street scored the first of his three touchdowns.

The Wildcats added a 2nd quarter touchdown on an 8 yard David Toney to give them their 13-0 halftime lead.

After intermission, Huntington's offense exploded with four unanswered touchdowns.

The Highlanders got third touchdown runs by Paden Christian, Charles Crawford and Nick Tubbs to take a 20-13 lead and added a fourth quarter Lamar Thompson touchdown run to go up 27-13 with only a little under five minutes.

The wheels then fell off the Highlander wagon as Logan used a long pass from Khaleel Reynolds to Brant Williams to set up a Joe Street 1 yard run to cut the Huntington lead to 27-20 with 3:06 left.

Logan successfuly attempted an onside kick as the Highlanders could not come up with the boot, so the Wildcats had a short field and plenty of time and they used it well as Joe Street scored with :56.9 left and Logan secured the win on a halfback pass from Street to Brant Williams.

With the win, Logan improves to 6-1, while Huntington falls to 4-3.

The Highlanders are on the road for the rest of the regular season and next week they make the long trip to Greenbrier County to face the Greenbrier East Spartans. Catch that game on Newstalk 800 WVHU, starting at 7:05.

After a much-needed "open" week following the heart-breaking overtime loss to Cabell Midland on October 23rd in the annual "Battle for the Shield", the 3-2 Huntington Highlanders football team returns to action Friday night.

Huntington will host the Beckley Woodrow Wilson Flying Eagles in a Mountain State Athletic Conference contest which kicks off at 7:30 at Bob Sang Stadium.

Woodrow Wilson lost at home last Friday night to Cabell Midland.

With the Reds season over, we'll finally carry the Highlanders live on Newstalk 800 WVHU Friday night (no more tape-delay broadcasts)!  Airtime will be 7:05 pm and the game will also be available on www.800wvhu.com and on I-Heart radio.

An extra treat for listeners will be the return for one night of Tom Roten as the Voice of the Highlanders.  Kent Bryson will assist Tom with color commentary. Tom will be filling in for Chris Tatum, who is competing in "Dancing with the Tri-State Stars" and your's truly, Bill Cornwell, who will be chasing the sun and the "Herd" in Florida!

Friday night's annual "Battle for the Shield" between Huntington and Cabell Midland in Ona was everything fans of both squads excited--lots of scoring, hard hitting and a dramatic ending.

The Knights reclaimed the "Shield" with a 31-30 overtime win over Huntington.

Both teams are now 3-2 on the year.

Midland was in charge in the first half, bolting out to a 14-0 lead on a 3 yard Lowell Farley run and a 4 yard scamper from Casey Thomas.

Huntington answered before halftime with a 2 yard touchdown run by Elijah King, but the extra point kick by Jarod Martin was missed, setting the halftime score at 14-6.

Midland added to its lead in the 3rd quarter with a 27 yard Chris Molina field goal.

The fourth quarter started out with something that has been common this season, a 2nd half Huntington scoring frenzy, as the Highlanders took advantage of two Midland turnovers to add a one yard Mark Shaver touchdown run and 6 yard and 32 yard touchdown runs by Elijah King.  In all three cases, Huntington failed to add the extra point conversion, a fact that would later haunt the Highlanders, as Midland drove nearly 80 yards in the last 2 minutes to score on a 5 yard pass from Stephen Hamer to Jason Brooks.  Chris Molina's extra point tied the game at 24, setting up overtime.

Huntington won the coin toss and scored on its possession on a 1 yard Paden Christian run, but Jarod Martin missed the all-important extra point.

Midland then scored on 4th and goal from the 8 in its possession on a 7-yard pass from Hamer to Cody Carter. Stephen Molina added the winning extra point.

Midland outgained Huntington by only 20 yards in the game: 354 yards to 334 yard.

Midland's Casey Thomas led all rushers with 89 yards, while Elijah King was the top Huntington ground gainer with 80 yards.

Huntington takes next week off, while Midland is on the road at Beckley Woodrow Wilson.

The war for Cabell County High School Football supremacy takes place Friday night as Cabell Midland hosts the Huntington Highlanders.

The game kicks off at 7:30 at "the Castle"!

We'll have a live broadcast of the game on www.800wvhu.com and on I-Heart radio.

The game will also be tape-delayed on 800 WVHU following the Reds-Pirates broadcast.

The Midland-Huntington game should be interesting and full of offense. Both teams are "hot", coming in with matching two game winning streaks.  Midland came from behind last week to beat South Charleston on the road, while Huntington picked up an important home win over the Parkersburg Big Reds.

Huntington now holds "The Shield" after knocking off the Knights last season.

Huntington High picked up a program-establishing win for Head Coach Billy Seals as the Highlanders recover from a 17-0 first half deficit to beat the Parkersburg Big Reds 27-17.

For the second straight week, the Highlanders went on a major scoring binge, scoring 27 unanswered points after falling behind P.H.S

The Big Reds wasted no time in scoring two touchdowns in the first quarter on a 10 yard pass from Alex Ash to Adam Lindamood, followed by a Lindamood 3 yard scoring run.

Codey Roney 29 yard field goal midway through the 2nd quarter made it 17-0, but it was all Huntington for the rest of the night.

The Highlanders got on the scoreboard late in the 2nd quarter on a 21 yard touchdown run by quarterback Mark Shaver.

Huntington added a 3rd quarter Paden Christian 1 yard run and 2 point conversion run by Elijah King to cut the Parkersburg lead to 17-14.

Huntington was dominant in the 4th quarter with 1 yard and 3 yard touchdowns by Paden Christian, who ended the night with 102 yards on 20 carries.

Rashaun Page added 36 yards to the HHS running attack, while Shaver had 34 rushing yards.

In a losing effort, Adam Ash had 197 yards through the airfor the Big Reds, but he also threw two interceptions.

Parkersburg had three turnovers in the game, while Huntington had none.

With the loss, the Big Reds are now 3-1.

Huntington is now 3-1 and goes on the road next week to face its in-county rival, the Cabell Midland Knights, who won Friday at South Charleston in the "Battle for the Shield"!

There is a battle of ranked teams in W.Va. Class AAA tonight in Huntington as the 2-1 Huntington Highlanders host the 3-0 Parkersburg Big Reds in Mountain State Athletic Conference action.

The Highlanders are ranked 12th in the state--Parkersburg is 4th.

Both teams won last week as the Big Reds knocked off mid-Ohio Valley rival Marietta and Huntington came from behind with 28 unanswered points to knock off Winfield.

You can listen to tonight's game live on www.800wvhu.com or on I-Heart radio. There will be tape-delayed broadcast of the game after Reds-Brewers baseball tonight in Newstalk 800 WVHU.