BARNESVILLE – It might be Pumpkin Festival time in western Belmont County this weekend, but there’s a ‘meetin’ of the unbeaten’ Friday night at Barnesville’s Shamrock Stadium.

The state-ranked Shamrocks (5-0) welcome West Virginia powerhouse George Washington (4-0) to the Ohio Valley in a 7:30 kickoff. The contest is the first of four straight against Mountain State foes for head coach Blake Allen and his troops. The Patriots are based in Charleston.

With a win, Barnesville would tie Sistersville (1980-1984) for the second longest regular-season win streak at 42. The Shamrocks haven’t lost since week 4 of the 2021 campaign 35-14 at home to Shadyside. The longest regular-season win streak in the Ohio Valley is 68 by Steubenville (2003-2009).

“Schedule-wise, we were kind of in an in-between year with leaving the M-OVL for the Buckeye 8. We had some open dates and had to scramble to find some schools,” Allen said. “To do that we had to go to West Virginia. We knew this was going to be a tough stretch. I’ve told the team that I’m very proud of how they have handled the first half of the season. After losing 15 starters we weren’t sure what we had for this season, but I’m very proud of them.

“Now, everything is going to go up a notch. We’ll see what we are made of. There’s not going to be a lot of big plays, so we’ve got to string some plays together.”

So far so good as the Shamrocks have steamrolled Fort Frye (35-7), Meadowbrook (51-21), Bellaire (40-0), Buckeye Local (56-0) and Monroe Central (48-7).

“We’ve done a lot of homework on them and got as much information on them as we could,” Allen said of the Patriots, who were ranked No. 2 in W.Va. Class AAAA this week. “They are, obviously, a much bigger school than us. Their enrollment almost triples ours and they are big and athletic with some tremendous athletes.

“They’re like us in the fact that we both have a lot of seniors playing, but their best player, their tailback, is just a freshman,” Allen noted. “He’s a stud. He’s really good.”

Allen was referring to Jaden Black (5-9, 185) who has run for 577 yards and six touchdowns on 88 carries so far this season. It has been reported that he broke all of the GW Junior High records of Ryan Switzer, who played collegiately at the University of North Carolina and professionally for Dallas, Las Vegas, Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

Senior Cy Persinger (6-3, 190) is the quarterback. He has completed 34 of 55 passes for 371 yards and five touchdowns. He also has thrown three interceptions. His favorite targets are 5-10, 140-pound senior Samaje’ Wesley (12-125) and 6-3, 175-pound senior Kai Martin (7-123-3tds).

“They are really good. It’s going to be a challenge, but I think we are pretty good, too,” Allen admitted. “I don’t like to compare teams, but I think this is the biggest and strongest team we’ve had since I’ve been here. These kids really worked in the offseason to get better, and they have.”

George Washington also has some size up front, mainly in 6-8, 425-pound Elijah Krason who lines up at right guard.

“Outside of him, we match up pretty well size-wise,” Allen said. “They want to run the ball, but they have a tall receiver that they like to go to. The quarterback throws a nice ball.”

The Patriots have beaten Spring Valley (27-7), Hurricane (45-12), Cabell Midland (27-12) and South Charleston (55-7). However, that foursome has a combined won-loss mark of 3-12.

Barnesville is led by its three-headed monster at tailback with junior Trey Toliver (64-718-13tds) and seniors Koby Jones (26-337-6tds) and Hines Ford (13-114-3tds). Quarterback Cole Francis has passed for 559 yards on 29 of 50. He has seven TDs and four INTs. Parker Graham (7-157-td) is the leading receiver, but Colt Carpenter (7-141) did not play last week.

The Shamrocks play at Wheeling Central next Thursday; then host Linsly before playing undefeated and W.Va. Class AA top-ranked Independence at Marietta College’s Don Drumm Stadium in week 9 ahead of the western Belmont County tussle with Union Local in Morristown.