MORGANTOWN – Depending on which Morgantown High football player or coach you ask, last season’s 14-7 defeat to Spring Mills in the Class AAAA quarterfinals may or may not be something that they’ve been thinking of since then.
The Mohigans got some revenge in the regular season with a 21-0 shutout win over the Cardinals, but come Saturday afternoon, it won’t matter whether that game has been thought of one time or 100 times; the Mohigans and Cardinals will kick off at 1 p.m. to write the newest chapter for each program in the books of the postseason.
The winner will advance to the Class AAAA semifinals next week with the chance to reach the state championship game on December 5 in Charleston.
“Honestly, when we played in the regular season, last year’s game was on my mind,” MHS senior wideout and defensive back Carter Cooper said. “This time, though, we are at home, and it’s truly one game at a time at this point. We have a great group of guys who know what’s at stake and who are hungry to keep going.”
MHS is aiming for its first trip to the semifinals since 2016 and only its second since 2012. Doing so would mean defeating the 2024 state runner-up in Spring Mills, who finished the 2025 regular season 6-4. The Cardinals earned their spot in the quarterfinals with a 31-21 victory over No. 9 Musselman in the opening round.
Defensively, the Mohigans have been near-perfect in recent weeks with three consecutive shutouts entering the quarterfinals. MHS is allowing just over 100 yards of offense in those three contests.
The MHS offense has also been clicking, scoring 122 points over the last three weeks.
“Offensively, it all starts with the line,” Cooper said. “When they give us time, then everything has the chance to fall into place. They’ve been phenomenal all season, every single game. Our offensive line is a very talented group that we lean on.”
Spring Mills is led by Cincinnati commit Xavier Anderson, a returning first-team all-state selection from 2024. Anderson will occupy spots on both offense and defense as a tight end and defensive end. With the bodies the Mohigans boast up front on both sides of the ball, Anderson will need to make a significant impact in this game to make a difference.
“They’ll have to find a way to be more aggressive on offense,” Cooper said of the Cardinals. “But whatever their adjustments look like, our defense will be ready. If they want to pass the ball more, our secondary will make the plays we need.”
Should MHS advance to the semifinals, it would host one final game at Pony Lewis Field in 2025, next week against the winner of No. 4 Jefferson and No. 5 George Washington. MHS holds a regular-season victory over the Cougars 38-7 from Week 2.
Kickoff from Pony Lewis Field between No. 1 Morgantown and No. 8 Spring Mills is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday in South Park.
