BECKLEY - The Weir High boys soccer team has an edge over Oak Hill before they meet in the West Virginia Class AA-A state semifinals Friday on Carter Field at the YMCA Youth Sports Complex.

The Red Riders have 80 minutes of experience more than the Red Devils.

Oak Hill is making its initial voyage into the state tournament while Weir High was there last year, falling to Beckley Springs in the semifinals.

"That was a very valuable experience for us last year," said Red Riders coach Joe Pepe. "We didn't know what we were going into and we really did not know what Beckley Springs had last year.

"We've only lost a couple of players from last year's team and we will take that experience into the game on Friday."

The Red Devils reached the Final Four by beating Pocahontas County in the sectional final and topped James Monroe in the regional final.

Oak Hill handed Pocahontas County, the state runner-up a year ago, only its second loss of the season.

The 2-1 victory by the Blue Devils was due in large part to goalkeeper Mark Manning's stop of a penalty shot in the 49th minute to keep the game scoreless.

Alex White and Thomas Booth scored five minutes apart for a 2-0 lead.

"Oak Hill has some good players," said Pepe. "They are a pretty solid team."

The Red Devils came back for a 4-3 victory over James Monroe. Oak Hill's Victor Garcia scored the 100th goal of his career in the first minute and brother Daniel Garcia successfully converted a penalty kick one minute later for a 2-0 lead 120 seconds into the match.

The Mavericks tied it up before halftime, but Oak Hill came back to score a pair of goals by Booth in the first 10 minutes of the second half and held on for the win.

"Any team that makes it to the Final Four is a really good team," said Pepe.

Weir High (14-2-2) and Oak Hill (12-5-2) will get after it 30 minutes after the conclusion of the 4:30 p.m. contest between Charleston Catholic and Berkeley Springs.

"We have to get back to the basics during practice," said Pepe.

"Hopefully within the first 20 minutes we can figure out what kind of team we're up against.

"We know Oak Hill likes to spread the ball wide and likes to spread out the defense. They like to cross from the corners a lot. We are working on our defense to defend against those things.

"It's hard, though, not being able to see them play. But, they are just like us in that regard.

"The kids have been working hard in practice and the attitudes are good."

Weir High defeated Tyler Consolidated, 3-0, last week at Brooke High School in the regional final.

"That's the first game we've won on that field in a long time,'" said Pepe. "We've lost to St. Clairsville Steubenville Big Red and Steubenville Central there in the OVACs and lost to Oak Glen in the sectionals.

"We finally broke the curse there and hopefully we'll break it down at Beckley."