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OVAC All-Star Game On Friday Night?

WHEELING — The $64,000 question surrounding the 71st annual Rudy Mumley OVAC All-Star Game was how it would play out on Saturday night?

One game is a miniscule sample size, but it appears the move from Sunday has been well received by all those involved, despite a smaller than normal crowd.

The dip in attendance could be attributed to two other factors other than switching days.

One was the extreme heat. It was blistering hot all day. Fans did catch a break when extensive cloud cover arrived shortly before kickoff and remained throughout the game, offering some relief. Second was the Italian Festival which was going full go well past the game’s conclusion.

While the smaller crowd is reason for concern, Game Director Bob Koch was pleased with the new format.

“From my standpoint, I really liked it. The week flowed much better for me,” Koch said. “I also think both coaching staffs liked it. They were able to have two days of practice before we had Media Day. They had a better handle on their teams by then.

“We will get together in September to discuss the pros and cons of the game,” he added. “But I think things went real well tonight (Saturday) and all week long.

The one thing we need to tweak is the time for the Friday pep rally, so we can give families time to get there.”

Longtime OVAC wrestling director Ron Mauck is an advocate of the Saturday night game.

“I like the game on Saturday. We used to play it all the time on Saturdays,” Mauck said. People can spend all day at the Italian Festival and come straight to the game. It also worked well for having the Queen of Queens pageant on Thursday as we didn’t have any parking issues with the Italian Festival.”

I asked several current head prep coaches their preference of game nights. All opted for the Saturday option.

Wheeling Park’s Chris Daugherty, who guided the West Virginia All-Stars to a convincing 26-6 win, liked Saturday night but offered an intriguing option.

“I prefer Saturday over Sunday for sure. But I think Friday would be a great night for this game,” Daugherty offered. “We had everything in place early in the week. We were ready to go. Friday is workable.”

BUBBA’S OVAC BITS

∫  The game did have one ugly episode when two players were ejected for unacceptable behavior. The actions were not reflective of Daugherty and Ohio’s Kevin Gunn — two classy coaches.

∫ I continue to sing the praises of Koch as game director. His job is massive in nature, and once again the game played out seamlessly.

∫  The Italian Festival did provide an entertaining fireworks show near the end of the third quarter.

∫ The addition of Morgantown, Parkersburg South and University has definitely leveled the playing field as West Virginia has won five of the last seven games. Ohio could have definitely used the services of Steubenville Big Red gridders. Steubenville was ineligible for the conference crown, making the all-star game off limits for its players.

∫ Valley’s Tret Streets was named the game’s MVP, and deservedly so. He was just of several Mountaineers turning in sparkling efforts. Caldwell’s Tanner Clark and Martins Ferry’s Andrew Hython were two of the Buckeyes who played well in a losing cause.

∫ The Class A coaches will be in charge of the all-star squads in next year’s game.

∫  The McDonald’s All-Star Band delivered another rousing performance. It is amazing that 143 members can come together on Wednesday and musically mesh in just three days.

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