WVU sophomore defensive tackle Darius Stills (55) sacks Wolfpack quarterback Matthew McKay (7) during the Mountaineers’ 44-27 victory on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2019, at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, W.Va.
Alex Hawley|OVP Sports
It didn’t take long for some 2020 football schedules in the area to get changed.
Ohio Valley Publishing released schedules last week for all nine of its area high school gridiron teams, plus printed the college slates for Ohio State, West Virginia, Marshall and Ohio.
Now, less than a week later, there are already some updates to make known.
With the exception of the Buckeyes, all of the area college teams lost one game yesterday when the Atlantic Coast Conference announced that it will participate in a league-only schedule — leaving the Bobcats, Thundering Herd and Mountaineers with another open week during their respective fall campaigns.
West Virginia’s season opener on Sept. 5 against Florida State is now off as the two teams were to take part in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic being held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
WVU had already lost one of its regular season contests on Sept. 19 due to Maryland — a Big Ten program — playing a conference-only slate.
Ohio also lost its second regular season game as its season opener at Boston College (Sept. 12) is now cancelled. The Bobcats were to originally play North Carolina Central in the season opener on Sept. 5, but the Mid-Eastern Atheltic Conference postponed all fall sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Marshall — which had gone unscathed on the schedule by the coronavirus — finally took a hit as its Sept. 12 home contest against Pittsburgh has been postponed.
On the high school front, the Southern Tornadoes had to make a pair of schedule changes due to West Virginia pushing back its start date.
SHS was originally slated to host Ravenswood in the season opener and Parkersburg Catholic in Week 8. Due to rescheduling conflicts with PCHS and having an open Week 1 date, the Tornadoes have now added a pair of Ohio-based programs to complete their 10-game slate.
Southern will now open the gridiron campaign at Frontier on Aug. 28 and will travel to Paden City on Oct. 16. The Tornadoes will play six of their 10 regular season contests on the road.
Below are updated schedules for the four teams involved in this story. College start times are still to be determined.
© 2020 Ohio Valley Publishing, all rights reserved.
SOUTHERN TORNADOES
| Date | Opponent | Time |
| 8-28 | at Frontier | 7 p.m. |
| 9-4 | at Wahama | 7 p.m. |
| 9-11 | vs. Shenandoah | 7 p.m. |
| 9-18 | vs. South Gallia | 7 p.m. |
| 9-25 | at Belpre | 7 p.m. |
| 10-2 | vs. Miller | 7 p.m. |
| 10-9 | at Waterford | 7 p.m. |
| 10-16 | at Paden City | 7 p.m. |
| 10-23 | vs. Trimble | 7 p.m. |
| 10-31 | at Eastern | 7 p.m. |
MARSHALL THUNDERING HERD
| Date | Opponent |
| 8-29 | at East Carolina |
| 9-19 | at Ohio |
| 9-25 | vs. Boise State |
| 10-3 | vs. Rice |
| 10-10 | at Western Kentucky |
| 10-17 | at Louisiana Tech |
| 10-24 | vs. Florida Atlantic |
| 10-31 | at Florida International |
| 11-14 | vs. Middle Tennessee State |
| 11-21 | vs. Charlotte |
| 11-28 | at Old Dominion |
OHIO BOBCATS
| Date | Opponent |
| 9-19 | vs. Marshall |
| 9-26 | at Texas State |
| 10-3 | at Toledo |
| 10-10 | vs. Eastern Michigan |
| 10-17 | at Miami (OH) |
| 10-24 | vs. Bowling Green |
| 11-4 | at Central Michigan |
| 11-11 | at Kent State |
| 11-18 | vs. Buffalo |
| 11-27 | vs. Akron |
WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS
| Date | Opponent |
| 9-12 | vs. Eastern Kentucky |
| 9-26 | vs. Kansas State |
| 10-3 | at Texas Tech |
| 10-10 | vs. Texas Christian |
| 10-17 | at Texas |
| 10-24 | vs. Kansas |
| 11-7 | vs. Oklahoma |
| 11-14 | at Oklahoma State |
| 11-21 | vs. Baylor |
| 11-27 | at Iowa State |
Bryan Walters can be reached at 740-446-2342, ext. 2101.
