CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Herbert Hoover and Wayne might want to start a Thursday night high school football series. The teams have enough recent experience at playing each other on a short week.

The Huskies (1-1, 1-0 Cardinal Conference) visit Class AA No. 3 Wayne (2-0, 0-0) at 7:30 tonight in one of 17 games involving West Virginia high school teams. Another 17 games will be played Saturday, and only 33 will take place on Friday, the traditional night for varsity high school football.

The Friends of Coal Bowl between no. 23 West Virginia (1-0) and Marshall (0-1) to be played in Huntington on Friday and televised on ESPN (7 p.m.) was announced well in advance of the prep season, and allowed schools to adjust their schedules.

Nitro (0-2) visits Class AAA No. 2 George Washington (2-0) and Class AA No. 4 Ravenswood (2-0) plays at Roane County (1-0) tonight. Valley (0-1) is at Van (1-1) tonight, and Wyoming East (0-2) visits Sherman (0-2).

For Hoover, the option to play a day earlier than usual allows the Huskies to stay atop a positive wave that was created by a 48-45 win at Class AA No. 9 Chapmanville last Friday.

"Absolutely, that was a great win for us," said second-year Hoover Coach Tim Meyer, who was a Husky assistant coach when Wayne visited University of Charleston Stadium in 2007 for a Thursday night game brought about by Kanawha County's "Bleachergate" debacle.

"We were in a position where we could have quit and hung our heads and the kids pulled it out," Meyer said of the Chapmanville game, which saw junior quarterback Carter Coleman tie a school record with five touchdown passes and account for a school mark for six touchdowns.

Coleman (6 feet 1, 155 pounds) scored the game-winner on a 3-yard run with 26 seconds left. He has completed 29-of-49 passes for 391 yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions in two games.

Senior Robbie Kidd (6-0, 170) leads the Huskies in rushing with 296 yards on 54 carries, and the one-two receiving punch of 5-8, 153-pound senior Josh Jordan (12 receptions, 168 yards, 1 touchdown) and 5-10, 160-pound senior Noah Cooper (9-147-5) give Hoover opponents their choice of weapons against which to defend.

Wayne Coach Tom Harmon said the Pioneers could be at more of a disadvantage due to the short week. The Pioneers opened the season with a 14-point win at Keyser, and followed it with a 20-14 win over Chesapeake, Ohio, in their home opener a week ago.

"The number of things you have to prepare for when you play a team like Hoover maybe gives us more of a disadvantage," Harmon said. "From watching game film (of the game against Chapmanville) the thing that stood out is the number of athletes they put out there.

"Their quarterback can throw the ball, and if you concentrate too much on him they can run the ball pretty well, too. And they weren't doing that against chopped liver, Chapmanville's pretty good."

So is Wayne. The Pioneers, who lost numerous key starters from their 2009 Class AA state runner-up team, have rolled up 450 yards rushing in two games, led by Jake Barr's 208 yards and two touchdowns on 41 carries. Clyde Ferrell has carried 35 times for 174 yards and two touchdowns.

"No-name would be a nice way to put it, but that doesn't last for too long," Harmon said. "I guess the big thing with us is we've had a lot of guys who've been patient and waited their turn.

"When you wait your turn, I guess it means more to you when you get your chance, and the kids are showing that."

Saturday's area games include Wheeling Park (0-2) at Riverside (0-2) at 1 p.m., Hurricane (2-0) at Spring Valley (2-0) at 1 p.m., Parkersburg (1-1) at South Charleston (1-1) at 1:30, and 7:30 games featuring Ripley (0-2) at St. Albans (1-0), Sissonville (0-2) at Point Pleasant (0-1), Winfield (1-1) at Cabell Midland (0-1) and Buffalo (2-0) at Poca (1-1).

Capital is the only Kanawha Valley team that will play Friday night. The Cougars (2-0) travel to Princeton (0-2).

Contact sportswriter Derek Taylor at derek.tay...@dailymail.com or 304-348-5170.