POINT PLEASANT — The Point Pleasant Big Blacks finally get back home this Friday night after nearly a month’s absence, but this week’s opponent is one hundred and eighty degrees away from the one who was here in August to help christen the new PPHS football facility.

That season-opening foe was the Tug Valley Raiders, a team the Big Blacks dispatched by a 57-0 score. The team here this Friday? The Wayne Pioneers. Probably the only thing that Wayne and Tug Valley have in common is that both play with 11 players on each side of the football. Oh yeah, the footballs that they use are pretty similar. After that? Not much.

The Pioneers come into this Cardinal Conference match up sporting a 4-0 record and a #3 ranking in this week’s WVSSAC ratings. Wayne has defeated Keyser, Chesapeake, Herbert Hoover, and Sissonville. Just one half of a ratings point separates the Pioneers from number ones Ravenswood and Sherman. Going back five years, the worst record for a Wayne football team was last season’s 11-2 mark. The only two losses were to eventual state champion Grafton in the semifinals of the state playoffs, and a 22-21 loss to the Big Blacks on the Pioneers’ home field. Wayne has made it to the state semifinals in each of those last five seasons.

“Wayne has one of the better AA football programs in the state,” said PPHS Head Coach Dave Darst. “Every year they are at or near the top of Class AA. They take a lot of pride in their football and I’m sure they have had this date marked on their calendar for a long time. Not many teams go down there and beat them and they will surely look to come up here and pay us back. Having said that, our kids are excited about playing Wayne. We haven’t had to do much to get them ready for this one. We have had a good week of practice -- probably the best week we have had all year. If we get out of the blocks early, who knows? We have the talent to beat any team on our schedule. Our only problem so far is we haven’t shown the ability to come back once we have our backs to the wall. A good start means a good game,” added the third year mentor.

Wayne returns a lot of starters from a year ago, including three offensive linemen -- Garrett Rowe, Mike Davis, and Justin Riggles, plus their leading rusher Corey Damron, who compiled 1300 yards rushing last season. One key departure is three year starting quarterback Joey Ferguson. Senior Adam Frazier has taken over the reigns of the offense. But, perhaps the best player on the team is senior tight end/linebacker Chase Perry, a 6’2, 225 pounder who Darst calls a “real football player”.

Wayne will run out of the Wing-T offense, although their version is slightly different from the Wing-T’s used by South Point and Warren Local. You won’t see a 220 pound fullback this week, but a 160 pounder with good speed. The Pioneers will also run their Wing-T out of an “I” formation. They don’t like to throw the football a lot, but they can if they need to and they are successful when they do.

The Big Blacks come into this game healthy and will start the same offensive lineup that started a week ago. That lineup features Casey Hogg at center, Gabe Starcher and Brock McClung at the guards, and Clay Krebs and Derry Osborne at the tackles, with Beau Bellamy at tight end. The split end is Cody

Greathouse. The quarterback is Eric Roberts while the fullback is Jarrod Long. Nathan Roberts will start at tailback and JaWaan Williams is the flanker. Also look for Chris Blankenship and Anthony Darst to see time at tailback and James Fielder somewhere in the backfield.

Defensively, the coaching staff has made one change. Clay Krebs will move from end to tackle, while Ryan Warner will get the first start of his career at the end slot. Other starters on defense will be Brock McClung, Michael Musgrave, Nathan Roberts, Casey Hogg, Chauncey McClanahan, Derek Pinson, JaWaan Williams, Donovan Powell, and Layne Thompson.

Also on Friday, the Point Pleasant High School Athletic Hall of Fame Committee will introduce the 2009 inductees to the hall of fame. Fifteen former athletes, coaches, and/or boosters will join the elite group. On Saturday at 6:00 p.m., the Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place at the high school. Dinner will be served at 6:00 at the commons area, with the ceremony to take place immediately following in the Lillian and Paul Wedge Auditorium. Tickets will be available at the door.

Another date to put on your calendar is Saturday, October 10th. The Jackson County Bears, a semi-pro football team based in Jackson County, West Virginia will take on the Cuyahoga County Spartans at the PPHS field. Kickoff is set for 7:30 and admission is $5.00. Two former Big Blacks are on the Bears’ roster -- Jimmy Jordan and Chad Bright. The PPHS football boosters are sponsoring the event and concessions will be available.

The Big Blacks game on Friday will kickoff at 7:30 with pre-game festivities slated for 7:00.