Zach Shriver (#11) tries to outrun the Grafton Bearcats in Friday night’s playoff game. The Red Devils lost 41-7.

GRAFTON, WV – Bitter cold air surrounded McKinney Field in Grafton Friday night for seventh-seeded Ravenswood’s quarterfinal playoff matchup against the second-seeded Bearcats. The air of controversy that plagued the week leading up to the game regarding field conditions was all for naught– McKinney field’s sod was comparable to that of Flinn Field. Unfortunately for Red Devil fans, other controversies appeared during Ravenswood’s 41-7 loss to Grafton.

Ravenswood received the opening kickoff but was unable to gain a first down. Read the full story

The Ripley High School volleyball team finished a stellar season by taking runner-up honors at the State Volleyball Tournament held at the Charleston Civic Center November 14th and 15th.

Ripley gave fans three exciting matches at the tournament, each leaving spectators on the edge of their seats to the end. In the first round, Ripley outlasted Woodrow Wilson in 5 games. After being up 2-0, the team found themselves heading into a fifth game at 2-2. In the final game, the team was down by 13-8 at one time (the game only lasted to 15, win by 2). However, the crowd encouraged the players and they rallied to take the final game 21-19 and fought off 8 match points to Woodrow. The games scores were 25-17, 26-24, 16-25, 9-25, 21-19. Read the full story

RAVENSWOOD — Ravenswood may have been unable to reclaim the Hatchet, but the Red Devils are more interested in a trip to Wheeling for a state championship. That journey began Friday night at Flinn Field against the Webster County Highlanders. On paper, the opening round Class AA playoff game between seventh and tenth seeds should have been close. Read the full story

The Ripley Lady Viking Volleyball team posted an impressive week pulling in seven wins, retaining “The Net” over archrival Ravenswood, and winning their first MSAC Championship.

On Tuesday, October 28, the AAA #3 Lady Vikings came back from two sets down to keep the coveted “Net” over AA #8 Ravenswood. The Red Devilettes came out strong with 25-22 and 25-19 victories, but Ripley buckled down to win the last three sets 25-11, 25-14, 25-6. Lexy Kessel led the way with 22 kills on 34/37 hitting, and added 6 aces on 24/25 serving. She also led the team with 28 passes with 11 of those passes being digs. Brittani Brooks added 13 kills while Lindsey Layhew and Alannah Sheets chipped in with 10 kills apiece. Layhew and Sheets added 26 and 22 assists, respectively. Read the full story

Seth Hamrick (#20) breaks free from a Big Red defender on his way to scoring for the Vikings.

Point after attempt breaks Ripley’s heart as comeback falls just short

RIPLEY –- The Vikings returned home for the final time this season to face a Parkersburg Big Reds team that was assured of finishing the season below .500. Despite a tough loss at George Washington the previous week, Ripley still had reason to believe they could vanquish the Big Red machine.

The resulting battle was one of the most entertaining games of the season. Read the full story

CHARLESTON — The Vikings came into the rainy George Washington game at Laidley Field off a bye week and an electrifying 16-14 win of MSAC opponent Riverside. Injured quarterback Seth Parsons also returned for the Vikings.

For the first half, the Vikings played with the #3 ranked team in the state. That promising start, however, crumbled in the second half as the Patriots ran away with the game, winning 44-18. Read the full story

RIPLEY — Next Sunday, Memorial Stadium will host all three Ripley teams in the Midget League.

The rare trifecta was accomplished over the weekend as all three teams took to the field: A and C-Team on Saturday and B-Team on Sunday.

Ripley’s A-Team started off the festivities as they defeated Gilmer County, 20-7. The game was played in Spencer.

Ripley’s C-Team then took on the homestanding Roane County C-Teamers, looking to continue the Vikings winning ways. Read the full story

Team breaks school record for wins

HUNTINGTON — The Ripley High School Lady Viking Volleyball team won their fourth tournament this season while breaking the school record for number of wins in the Huntington Spikefest Tournament on Saturday. The team went into the tournament as the #3 team in the Class AAA poll.

In pool play, the Lady Vikes won against Cabell Midland 25-11, 25-15 and South Charleston 26-24, 25-16. The team split with Greenbrier East (#6 ranked AAA) 20-25, 25-19. Coming out of pool play, the girls were seeded #3 in the tournament behind #1 Parkersburg (#2 ranked AAA) and #2 Philip Barbour (#1 ranked AA). Read the full story

RAVENSWOOD — Pundits billed Friday’s contest at Flinn Field between the fifth-ranked Ravenswood Red Devils and the tenth-ranked Point Pleasant Big Blacks as one of the week’s premier football games in West Virginia. That was a gross understatement. Victims of multiple heartbreakingly close losses to their Route 2 neighbors in recent years, the Red Devils gladly returned the favor with a kind of fourth quarter heroics few have ever seen. Read the full story

RIPLEY – The Ripley Vikings waited until the second half Friday night to unleash three games worth of frustration, botched opportunities, and sputtering offense, but when it finally came out, there was very little that could stop it.

The Vikings came out against their Homecoming opponents, the Princeton Tigers, with some momentum, despite a tough loss to the Capital Cougars at home last weekend. They had played well and given Capital all they could handle, so they had reason to be optimistic. Read the full story