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Bragging Rights On Line for City Rivals in Wheeling Central, Linsly Matchup

Maroon Knights, Cadets renew their rivalry

File Photo by Seth Staskey Linsly’s Trevin Tush (21) carries the ball while teammate Tommy Curtin looks for a block. The Cadets will face city rival Wheeling Central on Friday night.

 

WHEELING — Halfway through the season and with four games left, Wheeling Central sits in the final playoff spot, ranked No. 16 in the latest Class A rankings.

But Wheeling Central coach Mike Young insists they can’t think about playoffs because this week’s opponent — Linsly — certainly won’t be.

The two rival Wheeling schools get together again at 7 p.m. Friday at Bishop Schmitt Field at Wheeling Jesuit.

“We need to take care of ourselves so we can’t get caught up in ratings,” 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.”

The Maroon Knights (4-1) bounced back last week in impressive fashion with a dominating 50-28 victory against 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 a touchdown, combining for 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.”

Another team that had a chance to empty the bench was Linsly in a 44-6 victory against Beallsville.

The Cadets improved to 2-3 in a victory where four different players rushed for a touchdown (Nick Falbo, Trevin Tush, Bakari Adderly and Raoul Lockhart), and two different receivers caught a touchdown pass (Gage Giovengo and Jules Giovengo).

In his second start, Wyatt Hirt was an efficient 5 of 6 for 119 and two touchdown passes. His one incompletion was an interception.

“He has done great,” Linsly coach B.J. Depew said of his sophomore quarterback. “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.”

Hirt was thrust into the starting role because of an injury to Luke Mueller. The junior was to get an x-ray on his collarbone Wednesday and while the coaching staff hopes he will be back before the end of the season, it will be Hirt under center for the Cadets this week.

“Most teams have the same tendencies in their quarterbacks so we are not expecting Linsly to change their system a whole lot,” Young said. “We know know Linsly is going to spread you out, run some I formation. They play sound football and we are going to have to be the more physical football team and take away their best players.

“It is going to be a game of big plays. They have scored on the long ball so we have to try to take away the long pass. Almost every game is a battle between the two teams and we expect this to be the same.”

One thing Depew doesn’t want to get into is a shootout with the Maroon Knights. Therefore, getting stops early on will go a long way in helping his defense’s confidence against an offense that can beat you many different ways.

“They have excellent weapons and a variety of weapons,” he said. “It goes with out saying, but John Burkhalter (who had three interceptions against Magnolia) is a special athlete.

“I have been very impressed with Isaac Rine’s development and how he just continues to get better. Our defense will have to work as a unit and it will be very important that everyone does their job.

“We know what we are up against. We know that we will impress upon our kids — and I know Coach Young and his staff will, too — is that this will be a four-quarter game. This will not be won or lost in the first quarter.”

Wheeling Central won last season’s meeting, 36-14.

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