Photo credit: Nick Henthorn
The Wheeling Park Patriots celebrated a touchdown in their first-round win against Musselman-Appleman last Friday.
WHEELING – Wheeling Park got off to a strong start to the postseason last week with a convincing 43-0 first-round victory over Musselman in a game in which the Patriots scored four times on the first or two plays of their drives. .
No. 4 Park (8-3) hopes to continue its explosiveness in the upcoming Class AAAA quarterfinals against No. 5 Huntington (10-1), which had an impressive 56-28 victory over University. I’m thinking. They’re a team that Wheeling Park head coach Chris Daugherty has gotten to know well in recent years.
“In the last five, six, seven years or so, we played them twice in the playoffs and once in the regular season,” Daugherty said in an interview Wednesday. “Billy (Shields) started at Huntington about the same time I took over at Wheeling Park. We knew each other and I always followed Huntington, and they They’ve always been a good football team with multiple athletes. They have to defend the majority of the field. They’re just a quality program.”
The Highlanders scored five touchdowns in the first quarter against the Hawks, including one on a 35-yard dash by Keegan Sack, but scored again in the second quarter, scoring 15 times. He gained 161 yards on carries. The 1,000-yard runner scored 29 points this year.
“He’s a good football player and probably one of the better fullbacks we’re going to play against all year,” Dougherty said. “But they have multiple weapons. Not taking anything away from him, but one of the reasons he’s been successful is they have to worry about a few wide receivers and a quarterback who can throw and run. It’s from.
“That makes life very good for a running back, because you can’t just focus on stopping him. They have multiple guys that can hurt you. But he’s a very good It’s your back.”
Wheeling Park’s star running back Brennan Wack rushed for 163 yards and three touchdowns against the Applemen in a showdown between the state’s top runners on Friday.
“I haven’t looked at every back in the state, but I would say Brennan Wack is one of the best, if not the best, running backs in the state,” Daugherty said. “Huntington’s back is right up there as well. They’ve both had very successful seasons. They can do a lot of things, run with power, run with speed. That means it’s up to the defense to make plays and stop the runs.”
Wack has 1,916 rushing yards and 26 rushing touchdowns.
Huntington’s top prospect is Tayvion Wilson, who verbally committed to Clemson earlier this week.
Wheeling Park sophomore quarterback Jay Bordas had 16 touchdown throws and 1,679 yards. Junior wide receiver Collin Wiley, who completed a 79-yard screen pass for a touchdown against Musselman, has served as Park’s No. 1 receiver this year with a team-high 537 yards and seven scores. It looks like there is.
Jameson Maynard, who played another key role in Wheeling Park’s passing game at tight end, not to mention his defense as a linebacker, was injured in the Patriots’ final game of the regular season against John Marshall. Despite missing the game against the Applemen, Daugherty is hopeful. He will be available to play Friday against the Highlanders.
“We’re definitely going to have Jameson playing,” Daugherty said. “We knew last week that he was going to be out, but he’s been practicing this week, so we’ll see on Friday.”
Wheeling Park and Huntington have met three times previously in 2013, 2020 and 2021. Huntington holds a 2-1 advantage and won the teams’ most recent meeting, 48-21. This will be the first time the Highlanders have traveled north to Wheeling Island Stadium, as Huntington had been at home in all three previous games.
Kickoff is set for Friday at 4 p.m.
