| By Gaylen Duskey
realfang@citlink.net
There is a Web site that is very interesting if you are into number
crunching and the like when it comes to sports.
This site - www.masseyratings.com -- has rankings for all sorts of sports at
all levels including high school football.
And, were one to follow the ratings of Calhoun and its opponents they would
find the numbers have been eerily accurate thus far. For instance
Williamstown is the 13th ranked team in the state regardless of class while
Wahama is 17th and Clay is 27th. All those teams beat Calhoun, which is
ranked 64th.
The Red Devils beat Doddridge (99th), Gilmer (105th) and
Ritchie (114th).
Those numbers are why Friday night's homecoming against Roane County figures
to be a barnburner.
Why?
Because Roane County is ranked 63rd.
And Massey has Roane as 1.28 points better than Calhoun. That's about as
close as it gets when it comes to predicting a barnburner.
But that is usual when it comes to this longstanding rivalry.
Actually the rivalry with Roane County is not too old since Roane County has
not been in existence all that long. However, the rivalry with one of the
schools that former Roane County - Spencer - is long and bitter.
How bitter?
Bitter enough that older people still often refer to Roane County as
"Spencer" when talking about the school. The rivalry with Spencer goes back
many years and was always "THE GAME."
On the other hand Walton, the other of the two schools that combined to form
Roane County, was, well, a victory. Walton was Calhoun's homecoming game
every year, even if the game was at Walton. For years many older Calhoun
fans would have sworn Walton's fight song was "Let Me Call You Sweetheart"
which is what the band always played when the homecoming court was
announced. Maybe Calhoun should just think "Walton" when it thinks of its
homecoming rival.
Enough nostalgia.
Roane is Roane and the influx of Walton kids has dulled
the "Spencer" rivalry just a tad.
But the game is still a big game and Friday night's will be huge if the Red
Devils are to harbor any playoff hopes now that they have dropped down to
Class A.
While Roane will try to use is size to its advantage Calhoun will attempt to
counter with quickness.
The Red Devils will be out to rebound from a lopsided loss at Wahama while
Roane will try to end a three-game skid that includes a 14-0 loss to Clay
County last week.
As for the rest of the season, according to www.masseyratings.com Calhoun
should be favored over Wirt (117th) and St. Marys (71st) while being an
underdog to Braxton County (46th).
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