The Patriots are getting reinforcements.
Principals at Mountain State Athletic Conference member schools voted unanimously on Wednesday to approve Parkersburg South as the newest league participant.
The Patriots will join beginning in the 2025-26 school year for all sports except football and will begin competing in the MSAC on the gridiron in 2026.
This is Parkersburg SouthƵs second stint as an MSAC member. The Patriots, who were a charter member when the conference formed in 1993, left it in 1999.
Spring Valley athletic director Tim George and St. Albans athletic director Rick Whitman both confirmed on Wednesday the unanimous decision by the principals to add Parkersburg South.
ƵI think itƵs great,Ƶ GW boys basketball coach Rick Greene said. ƵWeƵve always played them, and I think theyƵre an upgrade for the conference.Ƶ
Parkersburg South football coach Nate Tanner said that he had spoken with the schoolƵs athletic director, Jennifer Null, and principal, Maria Francisco, about getting teams from the MSAC on the schedule.
South already plays crosstown rival Parkersburg on the gridiron and also scheduled Hurricane and Cabell Midland for the upcoming season. Joining the league became a two-way conversation between school administrators and the conference, Tanner said.
ƵI think we fit in well to that league,Ƶ Tanner said. ƵIt adds another tough opponent for everyone.Ƶ
Tanner said he had been in discussion with Huntington football coach Billy Seals about getting the Highlanders on SouthƵs schedule for an open date on Week 11. Seals and Tanner both said the two schools couldnƵt come to an agreement this year on when to play.
South already had contracts with Linsly and Spring Mills for two years, and both contracts will expire after the 2025 regular season, Tanner said.
Ƶ(IƵm) excited to have them join,Ƶ Seals said. ƵIt will help schools like us fill a full football schedule, as we are still sitting at nine games for next year.Ƶ
The ease of having a new member school to help fill schedules in all sports was mentioned as a benefit of the Patriots joining by other MSAC schoolsƵ athletic directors and coaches.
Greene said GW and South have scheduled home-and-home games for each otherƵs senior nights for years. Tanner said by joining the MSAC, he and the rest of the South coaches had more regional matchups on their slates.
ƵLast year we went to Spring Mills, Woodrow Wilson and Princeton,Ƶ Tanner said. ƵWhen we would go to the Eastern Panhandle, we would charter a bus, get our kids food, and that would cost us $3,000-$4,000. It adds up quickly.Ƶ
Parkersburg South departs the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference, which included schools in five classifications, but not enough in the 5A division to meet scheduling needs, Tanner said. That league includes Morgantown, University and Wheeling Park among its members.
All the coaches on a conference call with Null and Francisco, Tanner said, expressed positives and negatives about leaving the OVAC for the MSAC.
Among the cons of leaving the OVAC was that its membersƵ facilities are thought by coaches to be better than the MSACƵs, Tanner said. The OVAC also offered bowling, while the MSAC does not.
The positives expressed by those coaches were the resolution of scheduling issues and that the MSAC offers competition within SouthƵs region, Tanner said.
The football coach said the positives outweighed the negatives.
ƵI think weƵre all excited about it,Ƶ Tanner said of South joining the MSAC.
Scheduling will help MSAC schools also, George said.
ƵWe know theyƵll be a great member that will add a level of competitiveness,Ƶ George said. ƵItƵs healthy to continue to grow our league, and I know we are still looking at options to expand.Ƶ
George said no other schools were formally discussed for addition to the MSAC, but he said he would like to see Woodrow Wilson and Oak Hill added, plus see the league work more with the Cardinal Conference to assist with scheduling.
