Photo by Kristin Mazgaj Wheeling Park running back Zac Lydick looks for room against Brashear Friday.

WHEELING — On a night where West Virginia University legend Major Harris delivered the coin toss prior to the game, Wheeling Park secured a major victory.

The Patriots rattled off 26-unanswered points over the second and third quarters and rolled past Harris’ alma mater, Brashear High School, 42-12 at Wheeling Island Stadium on Friday night.

Park punted on its first two drives of the contest but after the sluggish start, coach Chris Daugherty’s squad found the end zone on five consecutive drives.

“I didn’t like the slow start but overall I’m happy with the way we responded after that slow start,” Daugherty said. “We have to be able to come out and be ready to play. If we have a big win on the previous Friday, it can’t affect the next Friday. We had too many penalties at the beginning of the game, as well, but once we settled in I thought we were able to run the ball and throw the ball a little bit.

“Multiple guys touched the ball and I’m always happy when that happens and our defense had another strong performance.”

Photo by Cody Tomer
West Virginia University Hall of Famer Major Harris performs the coin flip ahead of the game between Wheeling Park and Brashear Friday night.

The momentum started to shift toward the Patriots on the Bulls’ second drive when a bad snap landed in the end zone and quarterback Donovan Meadows fell on the ball for a safety and a 2-0 Park edge.

Following a short kickoff, Park took over at Brashear’s 37 and quarterback Brett Phillips delivered a shovel pass to speedster Jerrae Hawkins who raced down the sideline for a 37-yard touchdown.

“A lot of people are defending Jerrae in a lot of ways,” Daugherty said. “It takes a while to figure out how they are going to defend him and what changes we are going to make. We planned all week for one high safety and a man underneath and they didn’t do that. A lot of that is probably because of Jerrae because they don’t want to take that chance.”

Despite the strong focus on Hawkins, he was still able to tally 73 yards on five grabs.

The next Park touchdown was set up by one of Isaiah Zelaski’s two interceptions.

Then, running back Zac Lydick made it pay off as he broke several tackles on his way to a 29-yard TD run to put the Patriots ahead 16-0 at the end of the first stanza.

The Bulls got on the board in the second after a 73-yard TD drive but the Patriots scored the next 26 points.

Phillips faked out the defense with an impressive read-option keeper for a 9-yard TD run and the signal caller found Hawkins in the back corner of the end zone for a 15-yard strike and a 30-6 cushion.

Again, Park backed the Bulls up and another bad snap into the end zone resulted in a safety — leading to the highlight of the game.

The kickoff landed in the hands of Mykel Davis, who corralled the ball at his own 40, darted across the field and dashed down the sideline for a 60-yard kickoff return for six. He also received several key blocks on the play by Ian Richards and other teammates.

“Everybody kind of got out of their lane and he made a move and was able to out-run the whole kicking team,” Daugherty said. “He is faster than he looks. He’s a big kid and I think he has a bright future. He missed last year with an ankle injury but everyday he gets a little bit better. I think this year he is going to learn every game and get a little better every game. His blocking at the end of the game was phenomenal too.”

Wheeling Park didn’t need much in the second half but what it did accomplish was impressive.

Kicker Aidan Forget marched out on the field and drilled a 41-yard field goal with ease to put his squad up 42-6 late in the third quarter.

“We have two good kickers (A.J. Seals also made two extra points),” Daugherty said. “We’ve been really happy with them but Aidan got the opportunity to go out and bang that and he did. We work on that every day and it really stood out.”

Brashear added a late touchdown to complete the scoring.

Phillips threw for 141 yards on 13 of 21 passing, while rushing for 41 yards. Lydick was also strong offensively with 66 yards rushing behind a dominant offensive line.

“They have some guys that any football team would like to have,” Daugherty said of the Bulls. “But, our line of scrimmage won mostly all night and that is always important. Hopefully it continues to do that. We just have to continue to get better and grow.”

Military Appreciation Night

Wheeling Park senior Charlie DiSaia was honored before the game as the winner of the 2022 West Virginia Army National Guard Leadership Award, as selected by his coaches for his leadership qualities on the field, in the classroom and in the community.

Wheeling Park 42, Brashear 12

B 0 6 0 6 — 12

W 16 23 3 0 — 42

W – Fumble in end zone for safety, 6:19.

W – Hawkins 37 pass from Phillips (Forget kick), 6:07.

W – Lydick 29 run (Seals kick), :08.

B – Solomon 1 run (PAT Failed), 8:33.

W – Phillips 9 run (Forget kick), 6:22.

W – Hawkins 15 pass from Phillips (Seals kick), 1:40.

W – Fumble in end zone for safety, 1:00.

W – Davis 60 kickoff return, :52

W – Forget 41 field goal, 3:32.

B – Solomon 11 pass from Meadows (Pass failed), 5:20.

Rushing: Brashear 32-127-td (Solomon 18-75-td, Valdez 1-(-2), Meadows 10-34, Davenport 3-20); Wheeling Park 11-109-2td (Lydick 6-66-td, Phillips 4-41-td, Kocher 1-2).

Passing: Brashear 8-18 164-td-2x (all by Meadows); Wheeling Park 14-24-147-2td (Phillips 13-21-141-2td, A. Davis 1-3-6).

Receiving: Brashear 8-164-td (Cheatom 2-85, Valdez 1-6, Solomon 2-31-td, Peterson 1-8, Atkins 1-22, Drewery 1-12); Wheeling Park 14-147-2td (James 3-32, Hawkins 5-73-2td, M. Davis 3-17, Stephens 1-6, Bryan 2-19).

First Downs: Brashear 11, Wheeling Park 12.

Penalties-Yards: Brashear 10-70; Wheeling Park 7-50.

Fumbles-Lost: Brashear 4-0; Wheeling Park 0-0.