Photo by Kristin Mazgaj Wheeling Park running back Zac Lydick (20) looks to avoid St. Clairsville defenders including Kaleb Waltz (12) Friday night.

WHEELING — Wheeling Park’s defense played beyond its years and its offense was as good as advertised as the Patriots rolled to a convincing 42-14 win over visiting St. Clairsville in their season-opener Friday night inside Wheeling Island Stadium.

On a Wheeling Park (1-0) defense rife with first-time starters, senior linebacker Erick Brothers stepped up as the leader of that group and had a game to remember, scoring twice on offense and a third time on defense on a third-quarter pick-six.

“Erick Brothers has had an unbelievable month of practice and it’s more than physical,” Park coach Chris Daugherty said. “He’s always had the physical (aspect), but he’s brought the mental side to his game and he got us into a lot of right stuff tonight. He was our captain on the field, our general.”

Brothers made the move from defensive line to middle linebacker this season and has stepped up as the defense’s vocal leader.

“You’ve got to have communication (at middle linebacker) and that wasn’t his thing the last two years,” Daugherty said. “But he did a great job (Friday).”

After rushing for over 300 total yards in week one, St. Clairsville (1-1) was held to just 179 yards on the ground Friday. Park’s defense collected two interceptions and forced two turnovers on downs in the redzone.

“We had turnovers that you can’t have that turned into points,” St. Clairsville coach Brett McLean said. “I’m not going to discredit Wheeling Park, they did a fantastic job of creating plays and that’s what won them the game.”

The Patriots’ vaunted offense got to work right away, with senior quarterback Brett Phillips hitting speedster Jerrae Hawkins up the left sideline for a 60-yard touchdown on the game’s opening drive.

“We’ve talked about (Hawkins’) speed, it’s been documented, let’s just go ahead and take the cap off it right away and have some fun,” Daugherty said.

Park went on to score touchdowns on each of its five first-half drives, leading 28-0 in the second quarter and then 35-7 at halftime.

Junior running back Zac Lydick scored from one yard out, Phillips hit Will James on an eight-yard screen pass and Brothers ran in two scores on short-yardage situations.

The Red Devils had success running the ball with senior signal-caller Andrew Vera, but the mistakes kept piling up and preventing them from scoring points.

Vera threw an interception to Owen Tipton in the second quarter on a play where a receiver fell down. Then in the third quarter, St. Clairsville drove into the redzone on each of its first two drives only to turn the ball over on downs both times.

“There’s going to be so many things you can look back on and say we could’ve done differently but these kids are playing their hearts out and that’s all you can ask them to do,” McLean said. “I’m real proud of how we played in the second half.”

The dagger came when Brothers stepped in front of a short pass at the end of the third quarter and returned it 38 yards to the endzone to give Park a 42-7 advantage.

“It just kind of capped off his night really,” Daugherty said. “He had a great night and to finish that way is pretty sweet.”

Phillips was sharp all night for Park, completing 11-of-16 passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns. Hawkins made four catches for 97 yards and the opening score. Lydick, who saw nearly every snap at running back after starter Max Wiley was injured on the first series, ran for 114 yards and a touchdown and also made a 40 yard reception.

Tipton and Brothers intercepted passes while Miquan Macklin and Charlie DiSaia collected sacks on defense.

Vera Ran for 49 yards and a score while also completing nine passes for 123 yards. Jordan Walker led the team with 74 rushing yards. Fullback Jaiden Zebbs scored a rushing touchdown and was the team’s leading receiver with 46 yards on three catches.

“I’m not real thrilled that we got beat, but I’m thrilled that my kids competed in the second half,” McLean said. “We could’ve laid down, but I don’t think that we did. We still gained multiple first downs and moved into the redzone multiple times.”

Wheeling Park will host Brashear High School out of Pittsburgh next week while St. Clairsville will welcome Columbus Independence.

StC 0 7 0 7 — 14

WP 21 14 7 0 — 42

WP Hawkins pass 60 from Phillips (Forget kick)

WP Brothers run 5 (Seals kick)

WP James pass 8 from Phillips (Forget kick)

WP Lydick run 1 (Seals kick)

StC Vera run 1 (Meager kick)

WP Brothers run 1 (Forget kick)

WP Brothers interception return 38 (Seals kick)

StC Zebbs run 3 (Meager kick)

RUSHING: St. Clairsville 38-179-2td (Walker 11-74; Vera 13-49-td; Burk 4-8; Zebbs 5-18-td; Wood 3-16; Bush 2-14). Wheeling Park 29-161-3td (Wiley 3-4; Phillips 6-39; Lydick 16-144-td; Brothers 3-7-2td; A. Davis 1-(-3)).

PASSING: St. Clairsville 10-19 132-2int (Vera 9-17 123-2int; Schafer 1-2 9). Wheeling Park 12-17 188-2td (Phillips 11-16 182-2td, A. Davis 1-1 6).

RECEIVING: St. Clairsville 10-132 (Westlake 2-17; Swider 2-19; Zebbs 3-46; Thoburn 1-10; Burk 1-31; Bush 1-9). Wheeling Park 12-188-2td (Hawkins 4-97-td; Stephens 2-28; James 2-11-td; Lydick 1-40; Maynard 1-9; M. Davis 1-(-3); Bryan 1-6).

FIRST DOWNS: St. Clairsville 19. Wheeling Park 19.

PENALTIES-YARDS: St. Clairsville 5-45. Wheeling Park 9-82.

FUMBLES-LOST: Wheeling Park 1-1.