WHEELING, W.Va. — In the natural cycle that high school sports teams go through, there are seasons where younger and less experienced players must step forward after the graduation of a large and decorated senior class. That was the case two years ago at Wheeling Park and since then, the Patriots have advanced to the Class AAAA quarterfinals twice. 18th-year head coach Chris Daugherty sees parallels from that 2024 season to this fall.
“Sometimes when you’ve got returners and 32 flex practices and all of the summer, and they think they know but it starts to get a little stale and old. But these young guys that are coming up, they have proved themselves. They are learning and I think we’ve gotten a little better every day,” Daugherty said.
Brennan Wack won the Curt Warner Award as the state’s top running back in back-to-back seasons and he has moved on to play at Yale. With Wack in the backfield, the Patriots rushed the ball in 68 percent of their snaps last fall. This coming season, Park’s offense figures to be more equally balanced with third-year starting quarterback Jay Bordas leading the way. Bordas has tossed 30 touchdown passes in the last two seasons.
“We’ll go back to being 50-50. That will have to do a lot with Jay Bordas returning for his third year. His offseason was as good as I think he has had while he has been here. We’re really excited about what he can do. The game really slows down if a kid has an opportunity to play three years of varsity football. That third year, it slows down for them. We expect that for Jay.”
Multiple backs will be called upon to step into the backfield with a senior leading the way.
“Hunter Miller has really stepped up as a senior. But I do think we will be a back-by-committee. I think there will be a handful of guys, at least two, that will get carries.”
Park’s second-leading receiver from last year, Preston Heatherington, returns to the starting tight end spot.
“I feel comfortable where we are with receivers. We’ve got Preston Heatherington returning at tight end. A kid that got hurt last year that we really thought was coming on and then unfortunately broke his collarbone and had to sit out the remainder of the year, Liam Wetzel, has really had a nice offseason. Tatum Justice is returning and he got better and better as the year went on.”
In addition to his role as a top defensive back, Michael Neider will be asked to take on a greater role on offense. Neider made 59 stops and knocked down 15 passes last year.
“We’ve actually put him on to other team’s best receiver for the last two years. Here he is in his senior year, he has seen everything thrown at him and he has seen some of the best wide receivers in the state.”
Defensive lineman Akeem Davis returns to the Patriot lineup. He went viral for this interception return for a touchdown last year’s regular season finale.
“I think he can be a dominant nose guard in the middle of the field.”
Six of Park’s ten opponents this fall one at least one postseason game in 2025.
“Whenever you have a young group and a tough schedule, I think the early part of the schedule is going to be real important and how we handle that. We’re going to have ups and downs. How we handle the downs is going to be real important.”