High school football starts this week, which is sort of useful as you wait another week for WVU football. But if it’s not enough and you just you need that Mountaineer Field fix — something like the final preseason game before the first one that counts — then you do have an option.

The stadium will play host to a top-shelf prep game Saturday: Cleveland’s St. Edwards against Baltimore’s Gilman. St. Edward is No. 3 in Cleveland.com’s preseason state ranking and No. 19 in USA Today’s national ranking. Gilman is No. 2 in Maryland this preseason and No. 3 in USA Today’s Northeast regional ranking.

High school football is mirroring college football and staging elite matchups to start the season, and the one reserved for Morgantown is among the best available this weekend. The Mountaineers can’t be involved in any of this — and I mean, can’t be in the stadium, can’t have their scoreboard operator working the game — but they do indeed benefit. Neither prep program is far from here and two pretty strong prep programs are paying WVU to come visit.