Photo by Alex Kozlowski Wheeling Park’s Beau Heller has been impressive during his first year as the starting quarterback for the Patriots. In his most recent outing, the senior finished 16 of 22 for 225 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a QB rating of 135.6.

WHEELING — Wheeling Park senior quarterback Beau Heller had some big shoes to fill coming into his first year as the starter.

Last year’s QB Alex Dunlevy was a first team all-state honoree before picking up his diploma, but Heller wasn’t phased by any pressure. He simply went to work.

On Friday night, he looked as composed and comfortable as possible as he helped lead a fourth quarter drive that put the Patriots in front for good en route to a 28-14 victory over Oak Glen inside Wheeling Island Stadium.

“I thought Beau did a nice job of controlling the game in the second half,” Park coach Chris Daugherty said. “We did get the lead and I didn’t have to coach him. He ran the clock, he understood what he was doing and he made sure everybody was right. Those are little things that are huge when you’re trying to close the game out.”

Heller finished the game 16 of 22 for 225 yards, two touchdowns and a QB rating of 135.6 — a performance he attributes to his offensive line, running back Stevie Mitchell and a plethora of playmakers around him.

“We just try to be prepared every week,” Heller said. “Stevie got us going in the run game and it opened up our passing game and helped us get it out on some quick bubbles and things like that. He had a really good game on the ground and our offensive line blocked really well.

“It’s great (having weapons). I just get to throw it out to them and let them run with it and they block really well on running plays, too.”

Heller and the Patriots offense had several successful screen passes to speedster Sincere Sinclair, who broke one for a 13-yard touchdown.

“We run that a good bit in games,” Heller said. “The way the defense was playing us, they were only playing us two-on-three, so we just felt like that was a good play.

“Coach (Drew) Beihl made a good call and it worked well.”

With Mitchell standing in the backfield getting stronger as the game goes on, it’s no wonder Heller looks confident at the line of scrimmage.

“We can all move around and we’re all pretty fast,” Mitchell said. “We just try to make plays when we need to.”

Mitchell finished with 165 yards rushing and two scores, one coming from 50 yards out and one from 5 that put the game on ice in the final minute.

“We were just thinking ‘we have to score,'” Mitchell said of the 50-yard TD that came on the team’s second drive of the game. “We needed to put some points on the board and I just followed my blockers.

“(Oak Glen) is solid. We just tried to run the ball, get them in the box and then spread them out.”

The gameplan worked to perfection as Heller, Mitchell and the Patriots (4-1) won their fourth game in a row and await a visit from Morgantown this Friday night on the island.

Offensive Player of the Week

Kobe Hill, Linsly

The senior signalcaller went 18 of 25 for 285 yards and three touchdowns while also leading the Cadets in rushing with 52 yards and a score in a victory over McGuffey.

Defensive Player of the Week

Marco Aprea, Linsly

The senior had a career day as he compiled 22 tackles, with 15 of them being solo.

Ground Gainers

∫ Gavin Streets, Valley: Ran for 191 yards and three scores on 20 attempts.

∫ Gage Hannahs, Barnesville: On 23 attempts Hannahs rushed for 121 yards and a score in a win over Union Local.

∫ Jacob Jordan, St. Clairsville: Came up big for the Red Devils with 236 yards on 23 attempts and three scores.

∫ Alex Burton, Dalton Flowers, John Marshall: The dynamic duo both had another field day in the backfield as Flowers tallied four touchdowns with 148 yards on seven attempts while Burton had 149 yards and three scores on 11 carries.

∫ Garrett Dozier, Toronto: Rushed for 102 yards and two scores in a win over Steubenville Catholic.

∫ Wyatt Reiman, Shadyside: Tigers’ running back was solid going foe 186 yards on 21 carries and two scores.

∫ Carter Dennis, River: Tallied three scores for the Pilots along with 118 yards.

∫ Matt Schaefer, Indian Creek: Rushed for 135 yards and a score in a victory over Brooke.

∫ Thomas Sessi, Madonna: Led the Blue Don ground attack with 137 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Trinity.

∫ Spencer Ostovich, Nate McShan, Steubenville: Ostovich found the end zone four times good for 133 yards for Big Red while McShan galloped for 118 in a loss to Austintown Fitch.

Aerial Attack

∫ Carter Blake, Union Local: Jets’ QB tossed 198 yards and a TD going 21 of 34 in the process.

∫ Nick Chaney, Oak Glen: Senior signalcaller went 15 of 26 for 235 yards and two TDs.

∫ Michael Toepfer, Wheeling Central: The junior threw for 103 yards on 7 of 14 attempts in a loss to Fort Frye.

∫ Colson Wichterman, Cameron: Threw for 157 yards and three touchdowns in a loss to Pendleton County.

∫ Brendan Mirandy, Magnolia: Went 15 of 22 for 190 yards and a TD in a loss to Monroe Central.

∫ Caleb Leasure, Toronto: Red Knights QB threw for 172 yards and two touchdowns.

∫ Ryan Gorman, Steubenville Catholic: Tossed two touchdowns and tallied 108 yards.

∫ Hayden Taylor, Buckeye Local: Panthers QB threw for 125 yards in a loss to Shenandoah.

∫ Josh Shorts, Brooke: Threw for 130 yards on nine completions.

∫ Santino Arlia, Madonna: Threw for 124 yards and two scores for the Blue Dons.

∫ Colin Jackson, Bridgeport: Bulldogs QB went 19 of 34 for 150 yards and a TD.

∫ Kobe Mitchell, Harrison Central: Husky standout threw for 282 yards and two scores in a loss to St. C.

∫ Anthony DiMatteis, Weir: On 10 completions, the Red Rider signalcaller threw for 129 yards and four scores to help Weir earn its first victory.

∫ Logan Smith, Martins Ferry: Threw for 203 yards in a loss to Weir.

Mr. Everything

∫ Kobe Hill, The senior signalcaller went 18 of 25 for 285 yards and three touchdowns while also leading the Cadets in rushing with 52 yards and a score.

∫ Gage Patterson, Oak Glen: Along with hauling in eight receptions for 103 yards and a score, the senior also had 12 tackles on defense.

∫ Jason Beisel, Magnolia: Rushed for 105 yards and a score and caught five passes for 64.

∫ Malachi Rose-Burton, Alex Kilburn, Monroe Central: Rose-Burton rushed for 114 yard and a TD while also throwing for 118 yards in a victory over Magnolia. Kilburn ran for 122 yards and three scores, threw a TD pass and had 89 receiving yards.

∫ Jeremy Brown, Indian Creek: Led the Creek defense with 10 tackles, a forced fumbled and a sack along with having a 127-yard, three touchdown night on offense.

Good Hands Team

∫ Luca DiLorenzo, Felix Reitter, Nathan Coleman, Linsly: Hill shared the wealth as DiLorenzo had five receptions for 92 yards and a score while Reitter hauled in five passes for 90 and a touchdown. Coleman had a team-high six catches good for 60 yards.

∫ Tristen Bates, Valley: Caught five passes for 51 yards and a touchdown.

∫ Carter Loase, Dakota Hess, Union Local: Loase led the Jets’ receiving corp with nine catches for 110 yards and a touchdown while Hess had five receptions for 56 yards.

∫ Sincere Sinclair, Shaheed Jackson, Wheeling Park: Both senior receivers had five receptions and a touchdown. Jackson led the way with 98 yards while Sinclair had 75.

∫ Hunter Patterson, Oak Glen: Had six catches for 112 yards and one touchdown.

∫ Logan Burkett, Isaac Ball, Cameron: Ball had four catches for 78 yards and two touchdowns while Burkett secured three receptions for 79 and a score.

∫ Gavin Postlethwait, Magnolia: Caught six passes for 115 yards and a touchdown for the Blue Eagles.

∫ Isaac Hough, Steubenville Catholic: Senior receiver caught five passes for 64 yards and two scores.

∫ Brian Palmer, Buckeye Local: Caught eight passes for 108 yards.

∫ Lucky Pulice, Madonna: Reeled off six receptions for 77 yards and a TD.

∫ Mason Aberts, Bridgeport: Led the Bulldogs with nine catches for 92 yards and a score.

∫ Trevor Carman, Jonathan Vermillion, Harrison Central: Vermillion paced the Huskies with seven catches for 127 yards and a touchdown while Carman had six receptions for 107 yards.

∫ Cole Sztary, Chase Goff Martins Ferry: Sztary hauled in six passes for 69 yards while Goff had four receptions for 69.

∫ Gage Reitter, Max Maley, Weir: Reitter was solid as he had six receptions for 63 yards and two scores while Maley’s two receptions (58 yards) went for touchdowns.

Wrecking Crew

∫ Gioni Ferguson, Steven Felton: Both Cadets were everywhere on the field as Felton tallied 18 total tackles while Ferguson had also had 18 including one for a loss, an interception and a caused fumble.

∫ Ayden Smolira, Union Local: Led the Jets defense with 14.5 tackles (13 solo) and 1.5 TFL.

∫ Hunter Nixon, Colton Thomas, Wheeling Park: Both Patriots secured 13 total tackles.

∫ Kholton Goodlin, Dylan Conley, Oak Glen: Both Golden Bears gathered 14 total tackles.

∫ Cade Landis, Tyler Consolidated: Racked up 10.5 tackles for the Silver Knights.