By: Shawn Rine
The Wheeling Intelligencer and News-Register
Linsly (2-3) at Class A No. 5 Wheeling Central (4-1)
Time is getting thin for Wheeling Central, which entered the season as the No. 1-ranked team in the state and a decided favorite to play for a state title. If the playoffs began today, the Maroon Knights would be the 16th and final seed.
What’s more, Wheeling Central has but four games remaining on a nine-contest card. Included is this week’s test against rival Linsly, a date with unbeaten Shadyside, Ohio, and the season-ending matchup with another rival, once-beaten Bishop Donahue. The only gimme left is an Oct. 22 meeting with a Beallsville, Ohio, a squad that is down to 12 healthy players.
In other words, a slip-up would be devastating.
“We need to take care of ourselves so we can’t get caught up in ratings,” Central coach Mike Young said. “Linsly can’t go to the postseason, so they won’t be thinking about that and we can’t either.”
Linsly will be ready to go and we have to match that from the beginning.
Wheeling Central bounced back from its lone loss with a 50-28 road victory against defending W.Va. Class A state champion Magnolia.
Dawson Wear rushed for a season-high 147 yards, while Brother Jackson had five carries for 89 yards and two touchdowns. Bray Price rushed for a touchdown and also caught one, racking up a combined 140 yards of offense.
“The kids played hard and are improving each week,” Young said. “We got to play everyone and for the younger kids to play against a good team, that was special.”
Linsly also saw its younger kids get into the action last week in a 44-6 victory against that same Beallsville team, which on occasion only had 10 players on the field due to injuries. In that one, quarterback Wyatt Hirt connected on 5 of 6 passes for 1199 yards and two touchdowns.
“He has done great,” Linsly coach B.J. Depew said of his sophomore quarterback who is filling in for injured starter Luke Mueller. “His accuracy and his completion percentage have been good and he has done everything we have asked him to do.
“He has a great grasp of the scheme and the mental ability of a varsity athlete. It sure feels good to see that. It is different than having a sophomore that doesn’t have the physical or mental ability just yet. We are really pleased with his efficiency.”
Cameron (4-0) at Paden City (1-3)
Coming off the biggest victory in recent school history, Cameron’s task is to follow up a 30-20 conquest of rival and previously unbeaten Bishop Donahue with another solid performance.
“It was a night where a lot of things were going right for us,” Dragons coach Scott Holt said. “I couldn’t be more proud of these kids and the coaches.”
“We have a great group of kids. They bring their best every week and they are completely focused on Paden City.”
The Dragons are led by quarterback Colby Brown and running back Michael Starcher. Brown has completed 30 of 52 for 746 yards and 12 touchdowns, against two interceptions. He threw and ran for a score each last week. Starcher averages eight yards a carry and has rushed for 439 yards and four scores, including 125 and two TDs against the Bishops.
“Starcher is very valuable to our team,” Holt said. “He is immeasurable. He played banged up last week and still performed at 100 percent.
“That just shows what this team means to him and when he does that, nobody else can find an excuse not to play.”
The Wildcats are coming off their first victory, a 59-0 shutout of Hundred. In that one, Paden City racked up 248 yards rushing including 52 from Hayden Hizer, who scored on a run, a reception, a punt return and a kickoff return. Quarterback Aaron Heasley rushed for 54 and passed for another 110 and was responsible for three TDs.
“I think that we have improved,” Wildcats coach Brent Croasmun said. “This will be the best team that we have faced all year and could be a good measuring stick to see how much we have improved this year.
“Cameron is an excellent football team. They are skilled, well-coached and they have a good thing going right now.”
St. Albans (1-4) at Class AAA No. 9 Wheeling Park (3-2)
Defending champion Wheeling Park has alternated wins and losses each of the first five weeks. The Patriots own victories against Brashear and Allderdice, both Pittsburgh City League teams, as well as Brooke, and they’ve fallen to Bridgeport and University.
Coach Chris Daugherty believes his club began to turn things around in the second half of last week’s 54-18 victory against the rival Bruins, when they scored on 6 of 7 possessions. The final one ended on a kneel down to finish the game.
“Everybody could look at our schedule a little bit different, but I thought it was difficult,” Daugherty said. “Bridgeport is Bridgeport. Both city league teams are good enough athletically to man you up and create things you won’t see the rest of the season.
“University is a very good football team. It just seemed like week-to-week there were spurts of offensive energy.”
That turned around last week.
Cross Wilkinson completed 15 of 20 for 197 yards and four touchdowns, giving him a school-record 39 career scoring tosses in a season and a half. For the season, Wilkinson has completed 65 of 111 for 820 yards and 12 touchdowns. He has been intercepted three times.
“He has had spots where he looked comfortable and uncomfortable,” Daugherty said. “What I liked last week is he looked comfortable in uncomfortable situations.
“What I mean by that is, there were still times there was pressure and he got out and ran. He showed no panic and extended the play.”
Junior running back Rennie Clark continued his breakout season. He rushed for a career-high 283 yards and three touchdowns. For the season, Clark has carried for 747 yards and 10 scores. Overall, he has accumulated 1,108 yards of total offense.
“We felt all along we had a nice back coming but nobody knew about,” Daugherty said. “Give him credit for working his butt off in the weight room, because he’s reaping the benefit of work that was unseen by anybody but us.
“Many kids don’t want to wait their turn and put in work because they want that instant gratification.
“He shocked me the first couple weeks, I won’t lie. I didn’t know if he would run with power, put his head down and get 3-4 ugly yards. He’s done that.”
St. Albans has been outscored by an average of 39.5 points during its four losses, but that’s not what Daugherty sees. He said the Red Dragons are a group that is getting more dangerous by the week.
“I know defensively they’ve given up some points, but you can see there is change,” Daugherty said. “Coach (Scott) Tinsley for a lot of years was coach at West Virginia State and won a lot of games. And he was the offensive coordinator with J.R. House at Nitro.
“They’re better. When does it turn into wins? I don’t know. I just hope it doesn’t start Friday night.”
Union Local, Ohio (5-0) at Class AA No. 7 Weir (4-1)
Coach Tony Filberto’s team bounced back from its lone loss by pounding Petersburg, 48-7, on the road. But the Red Riders step up considerably in competition this week when an unbeaten Union Local squad that is averaging 40 points per game invades Jimmy Carey Stadium.
“This is going to be another big challenge for us,” Filberto said. “This is two very good football teams and we are very excited.
“I truly believe this is the premier game in the Ohio Valley Friday night.”
In last week’s victory, Weir rolled up more than 600 yards of offense. Cody Enrietti (223) and quarterback Donovan Spencer (227) each eclipsed 200 yards on the ground.
“Our kids traveled very well last week,” Filberto said. “They were just so efficient against a good 2-1 team on the road. We had over 600 yards of offense and for the first time since I have been coaching not one, but two kids go over 200 yards rushing.
“We just did an awful lot of good things down there. And we were able to put them in a hole early with Donovan scoring on our first offensive play and Cody scoring on our second. I think we really stunned them.”
Enrietti is the Riders’ leading ballcarrier with 98 attempts for 773 yards and four scores, while Spencer has 33 carries for 417 and four scores and Domenick Murphy is a good change of pace with 38 totes for 288 and also four touchdowns.
Spencer has hit 50 percent of his passes, going 20 of 40 for 317 yards, seven scores and four interceptions. Enrietti is also the leading receiver with nine catches for 80 yards and a score while Murphy has seven for 150 and four and Adam Cowden three for 57 and two scores.
“Coach Filberto has done a very nice job with that team,” UL coach Bruce Stiles said. “They have a very athletic quarterback, an excellent running back and a big, strong offensive line that makes things go.
“We have been a fortunate team this season, outlasting a couple of pretty good teams in Martins Ferry and Harrison Central and coming out on top.
“Now we just need to continue to build and improve on that.”
The Jets are led by Brian McWhorter on the ground with 76 rushes for 820 yards and 12 trips to the end zone. When quarterback Shane Smolenak pulls the ball down and takes off he has added 41 carries for 314 and five scores while Ben Howell has 21 rushes for 248 and six touchdowns.
Smolenak can also throw the football, hitting 31 of 52 passes for 595 yards, four touchdowns and five picks. Josh Bolyard is the Jets’ leading receiver with 15 grabs for 326 yards and four scores while Luke Menges has seven catches for 141.
“We are very happy to be where we are right now, but I’m not going to lie, we would be even happier to be 5-0,” Filberto said. “But we are only concentrating on this week right now and we are very excited about the challenge in front of us.”
Other Games:
John Marshall (0-5) at Buckeye Local, Ohio (0-5)
Magnolia (0-5) at Monroe Central, Ohio (0-5)
Oak Glen (1-4) at Edison, Ohio (2-3)
Madonna (0-4) at Mathews, Ohio (2-3)
Indian Creek, Ohio (4-1) at Brooke (0-5)
Valley Wetzel (1-4) at Parkersburg Catholic (2-2)