Park Rolls in Opener
Wilkinson & Clark steal the show, Pats best Perry 41-20
PITTSBURGH — Defending West Virginia Class AAA state champion Wheeling Park looks like it has not lost a step, as it rolled to a 41-20, season-opening victory against Perry Traditional on Friday night at George Cupples Stadium.
Reigning Intelligencer/News Register Sophomore of the Year Cross Wilkinson’s first two passes went for touchdowns and emerging tailback Rennie Clark ran for 127 yards to lead the Patriots.
“I was happy with the offense,” Park (1-0) coach Chris Daugherty said. “We executed very well early on in the game and did not make mental mistakes.
“We definitely had a running back emerge. We felt good about Collin Hlad and Zach Torbett but we couldn’t take them out of our secondary. If Clark is ready to take on the role at the tailback position, then we might be all right. Plus nobody would have to pull double duty on offense and defense.”
Perry took the ball first to start the game but the stingy Park defense held it to a loss of 1 yard and a three-and-out. On the ensuing Patriots possession, Wilkinson needed five plays and one pass to find senior Maezi Mosby for a 23-yard touchdown to give the champs the lead a little less than four minutes into the game.
The Park defense forced another three-and-out and once again took advantage on the following possession. After a 39-yard punt return by Hlad put the visitors on Perry’s 11-yard, Wilkinson found junior Nate Phillips for a score with 5:49 to go in the first. A missed extra point made it a 13-0 score.
The Commodores did not record a first down in the opening quarter and Phillips made a great play on a ball on a crucial third down, batting a pass away from the receiver to force another Perry punt.
The second quarter started the same way as the first, as Wheeling Park marched down the field on four plays and finished with Clark’s first touchdown, this one from 15 yards out to extend the Patriots’ edge to 20-0.
The hosts finally reached the first-down marker on their initial drive of the second quarter on a Tyreque Fedd 18-yard scamper, but the Patriots stood strong on a fourth down later in the drive to force a turnover on downs.
That is when Wheeling Park delivered the back-breaker of the first half on a four-play drive that lasted 1:02 and ended with Wilkinson connecting with Mosby again for a 15-yard touchdown that put the Patriots in control with a 27-0 halftime advantage.
Park received the second-half kick and secured the ball for more than four minutes as Wilkinson and Clark led the race down the field that included a 22-yard run by Clark down to the Perry 28. The nine-play drive was capped off by a 5-yard touchdown run by Clark to give Perry a 34-0 hole to climb out of.
The Commodores tried to ascend on the next drive with an eight-play march that saw quarterback Doug Johnson in the end zone after he went 39 yards untouched to cut the lead to 34-8.
Park and Clark were not finished yet as they put one more score on the board with 18 seconds remaining in the third, when the tailback crossed the goal line for his third score, finishing off a 127-yard effort.
Perry added two more touchdowns late in the game when backup quarterback David Freeman came in to run for a 1-yard score, pass for a 51-yard touchdown and accumulate 140 all-purpose yards in one quarter of play.
Even with Freeman’s quality play late, it was still the Patriots who were on top when the clock hit zeros.
“I am very happy overall,” Daugherty said. “We put it all together. I thought our defense and special teams played very well, we didn’t make too many mental mistakes and when you don’t hurt yourself, most of the time you will be all right.”
Wilkinson paced the attack by completing 11 of 15 for 119 yards and three touchdowns. Phillips hauled in seven passes for 48 yards and a score and Mosby grabbed just two passes for 38 yards, but they both ended in the end zone.
Johnson was 9-for-16 through the air for 108 yards and ran for 49 yards on nine carries for Perry.
“We have Bridgeport next week and it will be a little different,” Daugherty admitted. “They don’t hurt themselves at all and it should be a physically tough game for us.”
Cameron 54, Hundred 0
HUNDRED — Colby Brown tossed four touchdowns while going 6 of 7 for 186 yards as Cameron defeated Hundred. Trey Routt hauled in two receptions, both going for scores while Travis Mickey and Michael Starcher both secured a receiving touchdown. Starcher led the way for the Dragons (1-0) on the ground with 120 yards and a touchdown.
Andrew Simms and Andrew Ritchea also contributed for the Dragons with scores. Ritchea ran in for a 44-yard touchdown while Simms scampered in from 28 out.
Isaiah Jobes led the way for the Hornets (0-1) with 30 yards rushing and 50 receiving.
Valley 44
Tygarts Valley 34
PINE GROVE — Matthew Throckmorton had two kick returns for touchdowns and a 93-yard run for a score as Valley defeated Tygarts Valley in a shootout.
Dylan Irvin added two touchdown receptions for the Lumberjacks (1-0). He finished with eight catches for 108 yards as quarterback Tyler Kocher aired it out going 17 of 34 for 207 yards.
Williamstown 25
Tyler Consolidated 14
WILLIAMSTOWN — Tyler Anderson returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown to start Tyler Consolidated’s season, but the Silver Knights were unable to keep the momentum going as they fell to Williamstown.
Jace Reed scored the other touchdown for the Silver Knights (0-1) with a rushing score as he went 16-for-35 yards on the ground.
Mark Rucker led the receiving core with seven receptions for 50 yards and Griffin Phillips threw for 142 yards.
For the Yellowjackets (1-0), Trenton Tallman led the ground attack with 134 yards and two scores on 16 attempts. Tallman also tossed a touchdown to Donathan Taylor.
Harrison County 52
Claymont 41
CLAYMONT — Harrison Central racked up 304 rushing yards and five scores as it defeated Claymont. Sophomore Tyler West ran wild with 247 yards on the ground while tallying the first touchdown of the game with a 89-yard run. Quarterback Wyatt Elias ran for three scores and while also securing 133 yards through the air and a touchdown to Kyle Roberts. Roberts reached the century mark in receiving yards on three catches for the Huskies (1-0).
Gilmer County 55 Beallsville 0
BEALLSVILLE — Trey Shuff totaled five touchdowns (two rushing, three passing) as Gilmer County shut out Beallsville. Shuff was perfect through the air going 7-of-7 for 221 yards for the Titans (1-0) while rushing for 28 yards on four carries. Gunnar Haley hauled in two touchdowns on 94 yards while Cole Haley led the way on the ground with 71.
For the Blue Devils (0-1), Dakota Milosavljevic had two catches for 10 yards.
Carrollton 26
St. Clairsville 7
ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Brenton Miller hauled in a 5-yard touchdown run to get things started and added 71 yards rushing as Carrollton got the best of St. Clairsville.
Shaw added a 3-yard scoring run — 87 yards total — and Chase Flanagan ran one in from 3 yards away to put it on ice for the Warriors (1-0).
The Red Devils (0-1) received a 15-yard touchdown pass from Zach Bigelow to Logan Williams in the third quarter. They were limited to negative-2 yards on 32 carries.
Toronto 36, Wellsville 16
WELLSVILLE — Ty West got what Toronto hopes is a banner season started with an 11-yard touchdown reception from Nate Karaffa as the Red Knights went on to blast Wellsville.
Max Tice (13 yards), Danny Zninak (21 yards) and Joe O’Brien (2 yards) all had TD runs for the Red Knights (1-0). Zdniak also returned an interception 43 yards for another score.
Edison 29
East Liverpool 14
RICHMOND — Led by a 38-carry, 160-yard, two-touchdown effort from junior Seth Cade, Edison ran up 273 yards on the ground in defeating East Liverpool.
Cade scored on runs of 34 and 5 yards. River Pappas added a 10-yard run for the Wildcats (1-0) and Dakota Clifton had 62 yards and a 14-yard score on six carries.
Austin Mayfield threw a 5-yard touchdown to Hayden Jackson for the Potters (0-1). Kyle Walker scored on a 5-yard run.
Barnesville 40
Newcomerstown 6
BARNESVILLE — Caide Bunfill picked up where he left off, beginning his senior season with a 15-carry, 152-yard, four-touchdown performance as Barnesville belted Newcomerstown (0-1).
Bunfill scored on runs of 28, 4, 8 and 2 yards as the Shamrocks (1-0) put up 20 points in each half. But Holesky added 82 yards and a 15-yard score on four carries.
Shenandoah 42
Frontier 0
SARAHSVILLE — Boone Jones hooked up with Dalton Cowgill three times as Shenandoah routed Frontier.
Cowgill had five receptions for 121, while Jones finished with 195 yards passing with another score going to Caden Trenner to start the Zeps scoring.
Derrick Heddleson added a 46-yard run and Nick Miller returned a punt 65 yards for a score for the Zeps (1-0).
Frontier (0-1) managed just 22 total yards and didn’t record a first down.
SOCCER
Girls
Wheeling Park 1
Elkins 1
ELKINS — Abbey Anderson scored the lone goal as Wheeling Park tied Elkins. Abbey Delk dished out the assist for the Patriots.
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