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Central Athletes Battle All Obstacles

Football Title Kicks Off Impressive Run

File Photo Wheeling Central players carry Coach Mike Young on their shoulders after winning the Class A football title.

YEAR IN REVIEW

What a year for Wheeling Central! We continue our five-part series looking back at one of the most successful years by a school in the history of the Ohio Valley. Today is Part 2, as we look back on the fall sports, including the state championship football team and OVAC champion golf and girls’ soccer squads.

WHEELING — To say things got off to a rocky start for Wheeling Central would be an understatement.

The fall sports teams entered the season with a cloud hanging over their heads.

The football team had to deal with distractions that weren’t of its doing.

The golf team had the pressure of trying to keep its streak of OVAC titles going strong despite a change in class.

The girls’ soccer team suffered a heartbreaking loss in the OVAC title game a year before. Add in a new coach and nobody was quite sure what to expect.

Boys’ soccer and volleyball were the sports at Wheeling Central that have had a hard time finding their footing.

But an old saying goes “success breeds success.” And boy did it ever.

The fall sports season was just a small glimpse of things to come.

Of course, as it does anywhere, all eyes are on football.

Was everyone in the school fully committed to the coaching staff? How would Bishop Donahue players fare in their new surroundings? How will a sophomore handle the responsibility of replacing an all-stater at quarterback?

Then came two straight losses to start the season. Doubt creeped in with plenty more obstacles ahead. Forget a state title, would this team even make the playoffs?

“All the drama that surrounded us, I think that caused the Central family to become closer and more determined for everyone around,” football coach Mike Young said.

“This team showed a great amount of resiliency and overcame a lot of challenges.

“We had a team with a variety of personalities and temperaments, but they were able to stay together.”

A few bumps in the road — losses to city rival Linsly and at Martins Ferry — put Wheeling Central in dire mode. Another loss and the Maroon Knights would have likely sat out the postseason.

But that never came to fruition.

Wheeling Central won its final seven games, including the first two on the road in the playoffs.

The state championship game was one for the ages.

Bray Price ran for 190 yards and two touchdowns to go along with an interception return for a score as Wheeling Central completed an impressive late-season run with a 40-21 victory against defending champion St. Marys at Wheeling Island Stadium to capture the West Virginia Class A state title — the school’s 10th state championship and first since 2011.

“Central has a great amount of tradition, it is almost a shame sometimes that they are so high,” Young said. “There are a lot of times where if you don’t win a state title, you don’t feel like you accomplished anything.

“You might have an older brother or a younger brother that won, but you didn’t. You expect to win and sometimes that void isn’t filled.”

This is a group that could have packed it in. It didn’t.

These were coaches that could have felt jaded and didn’t care. They didn’t.

In the end, they stuck together and achieved the ultimate goal. Young also feels that helped start something special for Wheeling Central.

“It was the pinnacle of the start of the season and I think that rubbed off,” he said. “I know Coach (Mel) Stephens and Coach (Penn) Kurtz were determined to do the same. (Hockey coach) Zach Stahl played for me, I know what he accomplished with the hockey team was a reflection of that.

“We have so much overlap at Wheeling Central, not just on the field, but in the classroom and in the community. We want each other to have success. The fact we were able to set the tone and show, even in adverse situations, that you can still excel and reach the top, I think that was an inspiration.”

While all eyes were on football, other trophies joined the trophy case.

For one team it unloaded a year’s worth of frustration.

After dropping an overtime heartbreaker to Madonna in the Class 1A/3A title game the previous year, the girls’ soccer team had a bad taste left in its mouth.

Add in a new coach in Julie Barack and there was a lot more questions than answers.

“It was an amazing first year for me with an amazing group of seniors that just had a strong sense of pride in themselves and the school,” Barack said. “They worked hard and played for each other.

“It meant so much to them. As a coach I wasn’t here the year before so I came in not truly knowing everything. It was a steep learning curve for me, as well as them. I was pleasantly surprised and we had a great year.

“They really came together as a team and had a fun season. They pushed hard from whistle to whistle and maybe playing Linsly in the title game this time gave them a little more motivation with them being a rival.”

Kenadee Wayt scored two goals, while senior leader Claire Dieffenbaugher and Maria Dzmura had the others in a 4-1 victory against the Cadets, the first time Wheeling Central won an on-field OVAC championship in girls’ soccer.

With that goal checked off, Wheeling Central will be looking to cross another off the list and make its first trip to Beckley for the state tournament.

“Every year is starting over and you never know what you have,” Barack said. “I do think last year has carried over. We are striving for more and want to compete. We scheduled games against teams like East Fairmont that are historically good so we can challenge ourselves and see where we are.

“We can only control what we can control. Not the score, the refs, the weather conditions. We can only control the decisions we make, work hard and smart and hopefully the score backs that up. There is a lot of support within all the programs at Wheeling Central and it is great to be a place like this where everyone supports everyone.”

Another Wheeling Central team that knows what it is like to taste success was the golf squad. But moving up to Class 3A in the OVAC was going to be a challenge.

Instead, it was just another trophy.

Derrick Harrison shot a 72 at Oglebay as the Maroon Knights outpaced Barnesville by 14 shots for the title. The runnerup was teammate J.C. Maxwell. The freshman carded a 75 to make the all-tournament team.

Maxwell then followed that up with a two-day score of 173 in the state tournament to earn all-state accolades.

Both were underclassmen.

While the girls were doing their thing on the soccer field, the boys were surprising everyone by qualifying for the OVAC Tournament. The Maroon Knights had their first winning season in a long time and came within a victory of a sectional title.

The volleyball team was in a similar position, qualifying for the OVAC Tournament for the first time since 2011. The Maroon Knights won their first sectional title since 1991.

Wheeling Central’s Quinton Thomas qualified for the state tournament in cross country for the second straight season.

While the football players were the only ones in the fall to win their final game/match/meet, the other fall athletes showed they would no longer be denied the success so many of their classmates had achieved.

They, as much as anyone, showed the resiliency and determination it takes at a school with such a high standard of success.

NEWSLETTER

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