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Knights Dominate Up Front

WEIRTON–Madonna running back Donavan Kirby has built quite a reputation this season but the Wheeling Central defense was locked in and kept his explosiveness in check on a rainy Saturday night at Jimmy Carey Stadium.

Kirby led the Valley in rushing yards with 2,049 entering Saturday’s contest. He has also tallied 24 touchdowns, averages 256 yards a game and was just 110 yards shy of breaking the school record for yards in a season. However, the Maroon Knights held him to 37 yards in the first half, 91 for the game and most importantly, they held him out of the end zone as they delivered a statement win by a 50-0 count.

“We were able to shut them down,” Central coach Mike Young said. “We knew Kirby was their horse to run. He is a heckuva ballplayer but we thought if we could shut him down, we could control the rest.”

Young was correct. His squad was flying all over the field on both sides of the ball.

Defensively, Vinny Mangino forced a fumble, swarmed the backfield for a sack and a tackle for a loss and also got a hand on a punt to give the offense outstanding field position early in the action.

“We switched Vinny over from the linebacker spot to defensive end,” Young said. “We knew we needed some strength there and we knew he could play there and he answered the call really well. He just complimented Adam Murray in terms of Murray being the middle dog.

“You have to credit the entire front line. Timmy McCabe did a tremendous job of controlling the middle, along with Luke Duplaga and Luke Lawrence.”

Not only did the Knights keep the rushing attack under wraps, they also held the passing game in check as three Madonna quarterbacks combined for one completion for three yards.

“You can’t leave anybody out in our scheme because our defensive backs read their keys and took away that long pass when they went off of play action. Blake Peluchette and Rob Kahle, along with Anthony Robbins. These guys played with an all out team effort to shut down a pretty good offensive team.”

Dawson Wear had a night to remember on both sides of the ball. Offensively, he rumbled behind a stellar offensive line for 206 yards and three touchdowns, while also forcing a fumble on defense.

“Wear is a quality kid,” Young said. “He plays both sides of the ball. He did a great job on defense and offense and he is getting better with each game.

“Our offensive line came off the ball and Wear and all of our backs ran hard. That is a credit to our blocking backs such as Mangino, Murray and Logan Wells. They opened up holes for Dawson and Bray Price to run.”

Both teams are fighting for playoff spots and both coaches knew in order to pickup the key victory, they would need to win the battle up front.

“I thought (Central) did a great job,” Madonna coach Darrin Hicks said. “I tip my hat to their front seven. I told my guys all week that it was a battle of the front sevens.

“They were in the same situation that we are in now, where it was a must win kind of deal for them to put themselves in the playoffs and they did a great job.”

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