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Wheeling Central Wins Even Without ‘A’ Game, Beats Steubenville Catholic

Maroon Knights roll past Steubenville Catholic

Photo by Alex Kozlowski Wheeling Central’s Payton Marling (2) looks for running room during Friday’s victory against Steubenville Catholic. Jordan Waterhouse (3) looks for a block.

WHEELING — Even when it isn’t performing at its best, Wheeling Central is a load to handle.

The Maroon Knights didn’t exhibit their “A” game Friday night, but still rolled to a convincing 39-12 triumph over Steubenville Catholic Central on the campus of Wheeling University.

The win boosts Wheeling Central to 2-0 on the young season. Steubenville Catholic fell to 1-1.

The Maroon Knights committed four turnovers and some untimely penalties in getting off to a sluggish start. Mike Young’s two-time reigning state champs, however, relied on a punishing ground game, fueled by a host of runners, to prevail in methodical fashion.

“We didn’t play as well as I would have liked. But give Steubenville Central some credit for that. We turned it over way too many times and we also gave up some big pass plays,” Young said. “The big thing is we didn’t play as hard or with as much intensity as we did last week against Williamstown.

“We still have some things to work on.”

Despite two interceptions and two lost fumbles, West Virginia’s top-rated Class A team found time to chew up 358 yards on the ground.

Junior Jordan Waterhouse turned in a splendid effort. The 175-pounder rushed for 83 yards and three touchdowns on eight carries.

Senior standout Curtis McGhee III rambled for 105 yards on nine carries before leaving midway through the third quarter with leg cramps. Adam Murray, always a defensive force at linebacker, rushed nine times for 69 yards and a touchdown.

“I was real happy with how we ran the ball. We got a lot of people involved,” Young said. “That is probably the most carries Adam has had for a good while. He ran it hard. Jordan also had a good night.”

Wheeling Central led 6-0 after one quarter, courtesy of a 42-yard Waterhouse burst. The score was set up by a Payton Marling pick.

The Maroon Knights stretched the lead to 20-0 at intermission as Waterhouse delivered two more touchdowns. He scored on runs of 2 and 4 yards.

Steubenville Catholic made matters somewhat interesting early in the third quarter via a 50-yard aerial touchdown from junior Ryan Gorman to Anthony Sprochi. The kick failed, leaving it a 20-6 issue.

The Maroon Knights regained the momentum on the ensuing possession thanks to a 9-yard scoring run by Marling. Jacob Rine’s PAT upped the count 27-6.

Wheeling Central broke matters open early in the fourth quarter when Murray slammed in from the 4 with 11:14 to play. The score capped an eight-play, 58-yard drive — all on the ground.

The Crusaders tallied their final score on a 5-yard pass from Gorman to Anthony Lefever.

The Maroon Knights dropped the curtain on the scoring when senior Ethan Turner slipped in from the 2-yard-line with 2:52 remaining.

“We got beat by a very good football team. They outsized out and that size wore us down,” first-year Steubenville Catholic coach Anthony Agresta said. “We are playing with a lot of freshmen and sophomores out there. We challenged our kids at halftime to come out and compete. I thought we did that.

“If we could have taken advantage of their early turnovers it could have been a much more competitive game. We lost some kids (Friday). Hopefully we can get to full strength next week. But I feel we did some things that we can build on.”

Steubenville Catholic’s ground game was non-existent, garnering just 24 yards.Gorman enjoyed a big night through the air, passing for 216 yards.

McGhee III, who accounted for 360 yards and four TDS in last week’s opener, completed 6 of 8 passes for 55 yards.

“Even though we were sloppy at times we did some goods things as well. I thought we did a real good job of stopping their running game,” Young said. “We were also able to get a lot of kids into the game. But we have a lot of work to do. We have a big test coming up next week.”

That big test is a visit to 2-0 Linsly a week from today. Steubenville Catholic faces another stern test against Southern Local.

Wheeling Central 39 Steub. Catholic 12

Steub. Catholic 0 0 6 6 — 12

Wheeling Central 6 14 7 12 — 39

W — Waterhouse 42 run. (Kick failed).

W –Waterhouse 2 run. (Rine kick)

W — Waterhouse 4 run. (Rine kick).

S — Sprochi 50 pass from Gorman. (Kick failed)

W — Marling 9 run. (Rine kick)

W –Murray 4 run. (Kick failed)

S — Lefever 5 pass from Gorman. (Pass failed)

W — Turner 2 run. (Kick failed)

Rushing: Steubenville Catholic 24-24 (Dawson 10-11, Gorman 2-4, Keeder 4-1, Simmons 1-2, Lefever 1-3, Lamantia 4-3); Wheeling Central 39-358-6tds (Waterhouse 8-83-3tds, McGhee 9-105, Marling 6-42-td, Murray 9-69-td, Rine 2-10, Watkins 3-19, Turner 4-29-td.

Passing: Steubevnville Central 9-26-216-2td-x (All by Gorman; Wheeling Central 6-9-55-2x (McGhee 6-8-55-2x, Rine 0-1).

Receiving: Steubenville 9-216-2td (Lefever 5-72-td, Sprochi 2-74-td, Dawson 1-70) Wheeling Central 5-55 (Marling 2-10, Rine 2-28, Waterhouse 1-0, Sherman 1-17.

First Downs: Steubenville Catholic 6; Wheeling Central 19.

Fumbles-Lost: Steubenville Catholic 2-0; Wheeling Central 3-2

Penalties: Steubenville Catholic 12-73; Wheeling Centra 6-57.

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