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‘Action’ Jackson Sparks Patriots

WR Had 3 TDs in First Half

Wheeling Park wide receiver Shaheed Jackson (2) sprints up field on a carry as the Patriots take on Huntington during a high school football game on Friday, Sept. 18, 2020, at Bob Sang Stadium in Huntington.

HUNTINGTON — Action Jackson made an appearance at Huntington High on Friday night.

It was a movie that Huntington coach Billy Seals had seen before, too.

Wheeling Park’s Shadeed Jackson caught three touchdown passes in the first half to lead the Patriots to a 42-21 win over the Highlanders at Bob Sang Stadium.

“I thought it was a good team effort,” Park coach Chris Daugherty said. “We had a lot of kids step up on offense, defense and special teams and that is good to see. I didn’t like how we let them back in the game in the third quarter but our guys got back on it and finished the game. I’d like to see them finish cleaner but they did what they had to do. They played hard (Friday) and I’m happy for them.”

Seals gave credit to Park taking advantage of mistakes.

“Young mistakes,” Seals said. “And good teams find those things. We’re getting better, but we’ve got to eliminate those mistakes. Wheeling Park is a dang good football team, though. Coach (Chris) Daugherty does a great job and I have a ton of respect for those guys.”

Jackson’s three scores all were sources of contention for Seals, whose defense was caught out of position on all three.

His third score of the first half came with 25 seconds left and put the Patriots up 28-0 when Beau Heller found him wide open on a corner route for a 14-yard score.

On the play, two Huntington defenders bit inside and stopped in the middle of the field while Jackson sprinted to the corner to haul in the pass from Heller.

Prior to that, Jackson caught a screen and went untouched for 33 yards when the Highlanders took a bad angle on the wide side of the field. His first score came on a pop-pass in which Heller hit him as he came in motion and he beat the defense to the outside for the score.

“A safety took a bad angle and he got up-field on us and then, on the corner route, the cornerback looked at me and said, ‘That’s my bad, coach.’ We had Cover-3 called and it should’ve been a pick. Those are the young mistakes that we’re still working through. They are getting better, though.”

Heller finished 16 of 26 for 181 yards and three touchdowns in the win for Wheeling Park, who moves to 2-1 on the year.

Despite the loss, Seals added that there were several things to come away with that were positives for the Highlanders (0-3).

“I felt like tonight, we took three steps forward and then two backward, at times,” Seals said. “We’ve got to minimize those to win football games. I tell you what, though. This team keeps battling. We’re a better team today than we were two weeks ago.”

It appeared that Wheeling Park would run away with the win, but Huntington battled back within two scores in the third quarter.

Noah Wynick got things going on the defensive side when he returned an interception of Heller 51 yards for a score. Heller was hit by Huntington’s Eli Archer on the play.

The Highlanders then got a stop and scored on a 21-yard run by Gavin Lochow to cut it to 28-14 and seize momentum.

The momentum lasted as long as the kickoff, however, as Wheeling Park’s Torrance Walker returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a score.

Walker then recovered a bad snap by the Highlanders, which set up a 6-yard score by Mitchell to restore a 28-point lead.

“We give up another kickoff return and that’s inexcusable,” Seals said. “We’ve got older guys on that team. We had momentum at 28-14 and thought we could sky kick and make them fair catch it, and it goes the other way. Then, we fumble it and give up a short field.”

Mitchell had a solid night on the ground for Wheeling Park, rushing for 138 yards and two scores.

While Heller and Jackson were comfortable in the passing game, the rushing of Wheeling Park’s Steven Mitchell fueled the Patriots.

Mitchell’s patient running and the blocking of Wheeling Park’s sizable offensive line churned out yardage consistently against the Highlanders.

“Those are some big guys on their side,” Seals said. “They looked like men out there.”

Difficulty in the snap to the quarterback was a consistent theme with the Highlanders having six poor snaps that resulted in negative yardage.

“We had a lot of bad snaps tonight,” Seals said. “Some were low and some hit us in the hands and we didn’t field them. Again, young mistakes.”

Lochow battled through an up-and-down evening, finishing 12 of 27 for 126 yards with two interceptions. However, he also rushed for 56 yards and two scores – the final of which came with 2:27 left.

There was a delay in the fourth quarter after Huntington’s Clarence Rodgers was blind-sided following an interception return for the Patriots.

Rodgers, who rushed for 54 yards, left the field on a stretcher. His condition was unknown following the contest.

Wheeling Park 42, Huntington 21

WHEELING PARK 7 21 14 0 — 42

HUNTINGTON 0 0 14 7 — 21

WP – Steven Mitchell 1 run (Andrew Glass kick)

WP – Jackson 5 pass from Heller (Glass kick)

WP – Jackson 33 pass from Heller (Glass kick)

WP – Jackson 14 pass from Heller (Glass kick)

H – Noah Waynick 51 INT return (Nathan Young kick)

H – Gavin Lochow 21 run (Young kick)

WP – Torrance Walker 80 kickoff return (Glass kick)

WP – Mitchell 6 run (Glass kick)

H – Lochow 10 run (Young kick)

Rushing: Wheeling Park 22-145 (Mitchell 19-139, 2 TDs; Mundy 2-9, Heller 1-(-2). Huntington 27-81 (Lochow 11-56, 2 TDs; Rodgers 11-54; Jones 1-(-1); Team 4-(-28).

Passing: Wheeling Park 16-26-181-3-1 (all by Heller) Huntington 12-27-126-0-1 (all by Lochow)

Receiving: Wheeling Park 16-181 (Jackson 4-71, 3 TDs; Namack 6-62; Mitchell 4-31; Sinclair 2-12). Huntington 12-126 (Waynick 7-60; Jackson 2-23; Harrell 1-20; Felder 1-18; Tubbs 1-5; Archer 1-4) .

First Downs: Wheeling Park 13. Huntington 15.

Penalties-Yards: Wheeling Park 9-110. Huntington 6-60

Fumbles-Lost: Wheeling Park 1-0, Huntington 4-2

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