Photo | Paul Adkins

Man QB John Thomas Keffer gets ready to hand off.

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MAN — The Man High School football team hopes to keep the momentum going this week as the Westside Renegades come to town.

Man is 1-1 after last week’s 20-12 win at home over Mount View.

Westside is also 1-1 after a 22-20 victory at home over Wyoming County rival Wyoming East in the annual battle for the “Old Coal Shovel.” The Renegades lost 31-30 to Liberty Raleigh in the opener.

Man held on to beat Mount View, a team riding a 29-game losing streak and a squad which hasn’t won a game since 2009.

The Billies led 20-0 before the Golden Knights were able to score a couple of touchdowns.

“It’s always better to win than lose,” a cautious Man coach Harvey Arms said. “But we’re still making too many mistakes. We’re going to have to try to correct that this week. But it was nice to get the win.”

Likewise, Westside had to hold on to beat county rival Wyoming East. The Renegades led 22-6 after three quarters before East scored two late touchdowns to pull to within two points.

Man and Westside are scheduled to meet on Friday at Man’s George A. Queen Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. It will also be the Hall of Fame Game for the Billies.

Westside was led last week by quarterback Justin Cogar who accounted for three touchdowns in the first three quarters as the Renegades built their lead. Cogar scored on runs of 4 and 75 and also fired a 62-yard TD pass to Hunter Walker. Cogar finished the game with 163 yards rushing and 108 yards in the air as he completed 6-of-9 passes.

The Renegades got in the hole 6-0 after a 75-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Jacob Summe, who ended up running for 106 yards on 22 carries.

Matt Harless added 10 rushes for 39 yards for Westside.

“Most of their offense gears around their quarterback,” Arms said of Cogar. “He throws the ball pretty well. He’s also their leading rusher after the first two games. We have to be assignment strong again on defense. We have to make sure that the quarterback stays in the pocket and doesn’t run out and gain a lot of yards on the ground on us. We also have to always be alert on our pass responsibilities. We have to also correct our turnovers. We had three or four turnovers last week. We survived it this week but that’s just too many turnovers.”

The Hillbillies were led last week by running back Braden Griffin, who rushed for 104 yards on 22 carries and scored two touchdowns on runs of 27 and 7 yards. Freshman quarterback John Thomas Keffer accounted for the other Man score on a 1-yard quarterback sneak.

Arms said Griffin is working well as Man’s feature back.

“I think that he’s growing up and learning,” Arms said. “He’s improving every week. That’s what it’s about. He played better this week than he did in the first week. He read the ball well and made some good cuts. We’re looking forward for him to improve each week.”

Arms said since it’s Hall of Fame Weekend in Man it only adds to the excitement. The Man Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2012, includes: Donald Standifur; Harlan Carter; Barney Warren Frazier; Ricky Gibson; Robert Lewis II; Larry “Two” Harvey; and Jason Collin.

The inductees will be honored Thursday with a golf outing at 11 a.m. at the Triadelphia Country Club in Man. Registration begins at 10 a.m. Then at 6 p.m., there will be a meet-and-greet at the Man Memorial Field House before the 7 p.m. dinner and speeches.

The Hall of Fame class will also be recognized before the game on Friday night. There will be a hospitality tent for members and guests at the East End Zone.

“It’s always nice to bring these athletes back,” Arms said. “It’s one of the top things that we’ve done at the school. Everybody really seems to enjoy it.”

Man has dominated the all-time series with Westside as the Billies hold a 7-3 edge since the two teams began playing in 2002 following Westside’s consolidation of the old Baileysville and Oceana high schools. Five of the 10 games have been decided by eight points or less.

The Renegades, however, snapped a three-game skid to Man last year with a 33-7 road victory.

Man-Westside series since 2000:

2011: Westside 33, Man 7

2010: Man 28, Westside 8

2009: Man 20, Westside 14

2008: Man 28, Westside 20

2007: Westside 10, Man 6

2006: Man 28, Westside 0

2005: Man 18, Westside 6

2004: Westside 22, Man 8

2003: Man 20, Westside 14

2002: Man 21, Westside 16