MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A competitive bidding process has led to a new host site for the WVSSAC Football Championships.
The West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission Football Championships will move to University of Charleston Stadium for at least the next three years. There is a mutual option for the 2027 title games. The WVSSAC Board of Directors granted final approval to the City of Charleston on Thursday.
David Price
“We are excited with the offer extended by the Charleston community to host the football championships at Laidley Field,” said WVSSAC Executive Director David Price. “The local organizing group is committed to the student and fan experience as well as the financial success of the event.”
The round of bidding to host the 2024, 2025 and 2026 games was the most-competitive in terms of the number of proposals submitted to the WVSSAC. Representatives from Bluefield’s Mitchell Stadium, Wheeling Island Stadium and a combined bid from Huntington’s Joan C. Edwards Stadium and Morgantown’s Milan Puskar Stadium all submitted proposals to host the contests.
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“We were very fortunate to have four proposals from different parts of the state (Bluefield/Charleston, Huntington/Morgantown and Wheeling) who each had great interest in hosting the football championships,” Price said. “Each proposal had strong merit and each received thorough consideration.”
“We included things in our bid like making sure every team, no matter where they are from even if they are from Charleston, gets to experience the same things — a sit-down meal, swag bags to commemorate their championship experience. We are going to make sure every team that comes to Charleston gets to go to GoMart Ballpark and see the ‘Light the Night’ that the Dirty Birds put on,” said Charleston CVB President and CEO Tim Brady.
Tim Brady
“What is going to be better than playing for a state championship with the Capitol Dome in the background and Laidley Field with the lights on? It is going to be really cool,” Brady said.
Bids were formally submitted to to the WVSSAC prior to January 12 and site visits were conducted in the following weeks. A minimum seating capacity of 10,000 was required by the WVSSAC to host. UC Stadium is the home of the University of Charleston and Capital High School football teams. Laidley Field also hosts the WVSSAC Track and Field Championships.
Wheeling had hosted the championship games since 1994. Laidley Field in Charleston was the previous host of the games. The 2024 championships will mark the first time that a 4-class system will be in place. Games will be played December 6 and 7 with noon and 7 p.m. kickoffs both days.
“We have four full-size locker rooms and a locker room for the referees. There are some locker room renovations that will be completed prior to December and some press box renovations that are underway that will be completed by November,” Brady said.
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“Wheeling has been a great host for the past 30 years,” Price said. They set the bar high for other cities to even consider the challenge of hosting the football championships. We thank the many individuals who provided leadership through the years for the Super 6.”
Join the Main Street Morgantown family-friendly holiday shopping event from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday (Dec. 13) in Downtown Morgantown.
The event will feature a district-wide scavenger hunt for a chance to win prizes and the opportunity to explore holiday pop-up markets by Hoot and Howl, The Co-Op and Apothecary Ale House.
While exploring downtown shops, participants who spot DASH the Dog can collect stamps. Each stamp brings participants closer to the chance of winning prizes from downtown merchants such as gift cards and goods. To qualify for prizes, completed Downtown Dash Guides with five or more stamps must be turned into Hoot and Howl, The Co-Op, Apothecary Ale House or at Breezeline’s play-to-win tent on Courthouse Square.
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As a break from shopping, parents and their little ones can visit Kids Craft, Cookies & Cocoa Central at the WARD Building to enjoy a complimentary hot cocoa and cookie bar and children’s crafts provided by Hotel Morgan sponsored by Main Street Morgantown and Breezeline.
Visitors can also visit the beautiful 25-foot-tall holiday tree on display at Courthouse Square, a collaboration between the City of Morgantown, Monongalia County and Main Street Morgantown.
Sponsored by Breezeline, the Downtown Dash celebrates the holiday season, promotes walking and shopping throughout the downtown district, and supports local businesses by driving foot traffic directly to storefronts.
WHEELING, W.Va. — The West Virginia First Foundation visited the Wheeling Police Department to commend its efforts in addressing the area’s mental health and opioid crisis.
Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger presented to the WVFF board, highlighting the department’s progress.
Schwertfeger attributed a 14% decrease in Group A crimes from 2024 to 2025 to the department’s crisis intervention program.
“Just another great partnership,” he said. “More collaboration in this area that we are very proud of and we want to keep the momentum going,.”
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WVFF Executive Director Jonathan Board praised the program’s success.
“This in particular, the CIT program, that isn’t just in the ether, but is showing success – actual scientific success about de-escalation, about bringing together services providers and to boots on the ground and first responders, this is vitally important to not only this region but the entire state,” Board said.
The visit was part of WVFF’s ‘Hold the Line’ tour across the state.
Now that you know about West Virginia’s2026 recruiting class, I figured it’d be a good time to give a little insight into those who were once committed to the Mountaineers and landed elsewhere.
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What happened, and where did they go?
QB Brodie McWhorter (Mississippi State)
McWhorter committed to Neal Brown and his coaching staff, but reopened his recruitment when the coaching change was made. Rich Rodriguez did recruit him at the beginning, holding several conversations with him before backing off and pursuing Jyron Hughley and Legend Bey. Hughley committed, Bey committed to Ohio State (signed with Tennessee), while WVU added two more quarterbacks in Wyatt Brown and John Johnson III.
RB Jett Walker (Texas)
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Walker fit the bill for what Rodriguez wanted in the backfield. A big, physical presence who could absorb contact and hammer it in between the tackles. With multiple backs committed and feeling good about a few others, WVU didn’t feel pressed to hold onto him. Walker flipped to Minnesota and then flipped to Texas just three weeks later
WR Jeffar Jean-Noel (Georgia Tech)
Jean-Noel was the second recruit to commit to Rodriguez in the 2026 class, but reopened his recruitment in mid-April. He then considered Purdue, Pitt, Kentucky, UCF, and Florida State before landing at Georgia Tech.
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OL Justyn Lyles (Marshall)
The Mountaineers had a number of offensive line commits, and with the late additions of Kevin Brown and Aidan Woods, and their chances of securing Jonas Muya, Lyles took a visit to Marshall and flipped his commitment.
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LB Caleb Gordon (North Carolina)
Gordon’s commitment to WVU was very brief. As a matter of fact, it was the shortest of the bunch, announcing his pledge on November 24th and then flipping to NC State on the first day of the early signing period (December 3rd).
LB Daiveon Taylor (Kent State)
Taylor was the first commit in the class; however, it was so early that he was committed to Neal Brown’s staff, announcing his decision in April of 2024. He backed off that pledge the very day Brown was fired (December 1st) and eventually signed with Kent State.
CB Emari Peterson (unsigned)
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Peterson decommitted from WVU just days before signing day, likely due to the Mountaineers zeroing in on a pair of JUCO corners in Rayshawn Reynolds and Da’Mun Allen. He will sign in February and currently has offers from Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Bowling Green, Charlotte, Cincinnati, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, FIU, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Kentucky, Liberty, LSU, South Florida, Southern Miss, Texas A&M, Toledo, Wake Forest, and a few others.
S Aaron Edwards (committed to Tulsa)
West Virginia chose to part ways with Edwards and ultimately replaced his spot with fellow JUCO safety Da’Mare Williams.
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S Jaylon Jones (undecided)
Jones decommitted in late October and did not sign during the early signing period. He will likely choose between Central Michigan, Hawai’i, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, and Texas State.
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S Taj Powell (Louisville)
Taj is the brother of former Mountaineer basketball guard Jonathan Powell, who is now at North Carolina. He decommitted the day after West Virginia lost to Ohio and flipped to Louisville that same day.
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