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Must Win Time For Maroon Knights

Photo by Scott McCloskey Peyton Marling and Wheeling Central have a big game against Petersburg Friday night.

WHEELING — It all comes down to this.

After a 2-3 start to the season, Wheeling Central — like clockwork — turned its season around.

The Maroon Knights are currently riding a three-game winning streak — outscoring Weir, Union Local and Williamstown 103-51 during that spurt — and will now travel to Petersburg in their final regular season battle with hopes to claim a playoff spot.

Wheeling Central (5-3) is sitting at 18 in the latest SSAC Ratings — 0.37 points out of the final postseason spot — while Petersburg (5-3) is 11th. The Top 16 will advance to the playoffs.

Central coach Mike Young said his team played last week like their playoff lives depended on it.

“They’re up there in the ranks,” Young said of Petersburg. “We played last week like it was a playoff game and we have to do the same this week. We have a long drive down there and if we don’t win it will be a longer drive back.

“I like our gameplan and I like what we’ve been accomplishing over the last few weeks. Improvement keeps us going.”

The Knights are coming off perhaps their biggest game and win of the season, taking down state title hopeful Williamstown in dominant fashion 33-14. Now they are looking to build off that momentum in the final week of the season.

“We executed the way we wanted,” Young said. “We threw the ball well, ran pretty well and (Central QB) Michael Toepfer had a breakout game. He played well and the guys rallied around him.”

Toepfer led the charge a week ago with 159 yards passing and three touchdowns, along with a pair of rushing scores, while Jordan Waterhouse ran for 124 yards and caught two touchdowns for a combined 70 yards.

Young credits the team’s rugged schedule for its recent success.

“We play up,” Young said. “We’ve played teams like Parkersburg, Poca and Fort Frye. I’m just glad with how our kids are coming together as a team and as a unit. I’m proud of what our coaches have done and how we’ve played in crunch time. It’s time to step up and play good ball.”

Petersburg is looking to get back on the field after picking up a win via forfeit a week ago against Tucker County.

The week prior, the Vikings fell 62-26 to Keyser.

In the loss, Petersburg led 19-7 with 8:36 to go in the first half, before getting outscored 55-7 the rest of the way.

Despite the setback, the Vikings received a solid performance from Peyton Day on the ground, as he racked up 127 yards on 21 carries, while QB Cody Nuzum threw for 139 yards on 10 of 18 passing.

Young and the Knights have also been preparing for the grass surface they will be stepping foot on in Petersburg by practicing on Pleasonton Ballfield.

“We’ve been practicing on grass instead of turf,” Young said. “We have to be ready because Petersburg runs the ball well, their quarterback is versatile and he throws well. They are aggressive on defense, too. They swarm to the ball. We’ll have to play good offense, secure the ball and put points on the board and slow them down.”

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