WHEELING – The chill in the Ohio Valley these past few days is a reminder that the most wonderful time of the year is fast approaching.
High school football season is upon us.
Starting today, the Valley will once again welcome teams from along the Ohio River, all with a state championship in mind. Play begins today in Ohio, with teams like Shadyside, Martins Ferry, Bridgeport, Frontier and River taking to the field. This is a precursor to the Buckeye State games scheduled for Friday and Saturday. And then next week, West Virginia joins in the official season opener.
With each new season bringing new players into the spotlight and new storylines that will captivate fans across the region, the Intelligencer and the Wheeling News-Register are here to help fans get all the information they’re looking for about the upcoming campaign.
Our 2024 football preview debuts in today’s edition, featuring details on teams across the valley and painting exciting storylines about what’s in store this season for this year’s fans.
Fans looking for more information on their favorite teams can look no further than the preview section, as once again, The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register have partnered with WVU Medicine to provide an enhanced online experience.
Your gateway to the 2024 football preview site is on the homepage of theintelligencer.net. There you will find all the information you are looking for, including articles and photos as well as audio of each team’s head coach and video of each team featured in our newspaper affiliate. Easy to navigate with plenty of options to find the team you are looking for.
Next order
While some schools will have new passing players joining their teams this year, others are still in a quarterback competition whose results won’t be known to the public until the offensive line takes the field for the first time.
Wheeling Park sophomore Jay Boldus, Steubenville Catholic junior Matthew Sproch, Shadyside sophomore Jaeden Johnson, Madonna freshman Maddox Bowen, Indian Creek junior Ian Starkey and Cameron junior Cason Angell will be the new starting signal callers for their respective teams.
With the team’s quarterback situation unclear, Weir is competing between freshman Ryant Lyons and sophomore Nick DeMatteis, while Rivers is looking at two seniors, Peyton Blue and Lucas Dennis, as possible candidates to move under center. Harrison Central is looking at either junior Brady Hire or sophomore Gage Stoneking as candidates, with receiver Cam McAfee also a possibility.
Buckeye Local’s Alex McDiffitt moved to quarterback last season and will have junior Grant Domborski challenging him this year. Ryan Dornon and Chaz Gasser are competing for the position at Beallsville, while Bellaire’s Luke Hetherington moved from quarterback to receiver and sophomore Michael Dipple could take over the role. Union Local will return senior Isaiah Tomolonis at QB1 after he was injured midway through last year, but he’ll have to hold off junior Colby Carpenter, who led the team in rushing late in the year.
Steubenville welcomes back senior transfer Aiden Davis, formerly of Wheeling Park, and Brook will have to replace four-year starter Braelyn Spellinger.
Sideline Patrol
In addition to a new quarterback, the area will also get its first look at four new coaching staff members.
Buckeye local Chris Kiedeisch will take over as head coach after serving as coordinator at Linsley. Andrew Jahn will be the new head coach at Bridgeport after gaining experience at Wheeling Park and West Liberty University. John McEuen will take over as head coach at Madonna after coaching the Junior Dons program for a number of years. Casey Goff will take over as head coach at Brook after coaching the University of New Jersey Lions for seven seasons.
Under the lights
In addition to personnel and staff changes, many programs underwent facility upgrades over the summer.
Wheeling Park and St. Clairsville are one of two schools to have new turf installed on their fields, and Union Local will have a new scoreboard installed on its field.
The biggest change will come in Berea, where the Big Reds will play under the lights for the first time. The installation of stadium lights will allow Berea to play games on Friday nights instead of Saturday afternoons in the past. They won’t have to wait long until their first night game this Friday against Buckeye Local at Nelson Field.
Another shot at bragging rights
While there are many “new” matches scheduled for this season, fans can also look forward to matches between long-established rivals in the valley.
Wheeling Park will host John Marshall at Wheeling Island Stadium this year in their traditional Week 10 matchup. Park defeated the Monarchs 31-7 last year. Bellaire will leave their newly lighted home field in Week 10 to visit historic rival Martins Ferry. Bellaire defeated Ferry 41-14 last season.
Burnsville comes into the year after a second consecutive undefeated regular season and will host rival Union Local in Week 10 after beating the Jets 40-19 last year. Brook and Weir will meet in Week 9 of this season at Brook Memorial Stadium after Weir won 24-10 in last year’s rivalry matchup. Shadyside and Bridgeport will meet at Perkins Field in Week 9. The Bulldogs will be looking to get revenge after losing to the Tigers 41-7 last time out.
The 2024 season is shaping up to be one to remember for players, coaches and fans, so join us again this season as we bring you all the high school football news you’ve been waiting for.
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