Fall sports season got off to a great start with most teams already having games under their belt. The local golf teams have been competing for nearly a month now while volleyball teams and football just kicked off. Cross Country is off and running and the Soccer teams are on the go. The teams have had some success so far and it looks like it could be a banner year.

Paden City head football coach Zach Heasley had the Wildcats fired up, but they made some early season mistakes against Frontier, on Friday and took a thumping 61-6. Fundamentally they are sound and will try and iron out those things during the week. The Cat’s don’t have the luxury of most teams as they go with just 17 players, but coach Heasley will play with the talent he has and with his staff they have done a good job stepping in and getting the most out of the players. The Wildcats will be at home this week vs Wirt County a team the Cat’s fell to 35-16 last season. This is a new year however so look for a different result. The game has been declared the West Virginia Attorney General fight against oipoids game of the week.

The Silver Knights got off to a rough start at Ritchie County on Friday in their opener, with Rucker running wild, but the Rebels were just to much and sent the Knights home on the short end of a 58-20 score. Look for a great game this Friday as Doddridge County, the number 2 ranked team in the state invades Knights field. With two of the best running backs going at it head to head it will be one you won’t want to miss. I pick the Knights 35-34.

West Virginia started out very slow in coach Neil Browns debut over James Maddison, and went into the locker room at the half down 7-3. They got things turned around a little in the second half and outscored the visitors 17-6 to give coach Brown a win in his first game as a Mountaineer. It wasn’t pretty by a long shot as the Mountaineers averaged just 1.4 yards per rush and finished the game with 34 total rushing yards on 24 carries. The passing game was better however as they completed 27-42 for 260 yards and two scores. The defense came up with some big stops and finished with 11 stops for losses.

Paden City volleyball gets started tomorrow with a tri-match on the road with East Richland and Hundred. The Cat’s are bigger and better than last season and could be a factor come turnament time. For right now however they will take one match at a time and keep improving as the season progresses.

The Silver Knights will kick off teir season tonight at home in a quad-match with Clay Battelle, Linsly and Valley. The Knights lost a huge portion of their team to graduation, but have been working hard and will get better with each outing. They are still a good team and will give everyone on their schedule a tough time. The Knights are used to making it to the state tournament and once again that will be their goal. They will play on the road on Saturday in the annual Oak Glen tournament.

I traveled out to Mannington on Sunday for the annual United Mine Workers Labor Day Picnic. It was quite the event with UMWA President Cecil Roberts giving a stirring speech and the miners and families all enjoying the day. One of the big events was the corn hole tournament which was won by the ladies over the men. The women had a big sign that read “They couldn’t beat Mother Jones and you can’t beat us.” There was plenty of good fried chicken, homemade nodles, beans, deserts, drinks and Ice Cream all free. Over $1,500 worth of free prizes were given out including a free rifle.

I noticed the annual Paden City Labor Day Parade as I’ve always known it since I was a lad, has taken on a new name. According to an email sent out by the AFL-CIO it’s now”The Marshall-Wetzel-Tyler Labor Council, AFL-CIO Paden City Labor Day Parade.” Not so sure I like that very well, I might be wrong on this, but it seems like that is what’s happened. As far back as I can remember it has been a celebration for working people, those who do labor of any kind, and the people of Paden City celebrated the occassion without ever naming the Parade anything other than the Paden City Labor Day Parade. They say change is good, but in some cases it’s just wrong and this could be one of them. Sponsorship is one thing but taking over the name of a 71 year old event should get some P.C. people stirred up unless they just don’t care anymore. eparsons@tylerstarnews.com