Photo by Joe Lovell Martins Ferry’s Landyn Hores (82) catches a pass against St. Clairsville last week.

WEIRTON — Weir High saw both Martins Ferry and a Justin Kropka coached team in separate weeks a season ago. They’ll see both at the same time at Jimmy Carey Stadium on Friday night.

Kropka, the former Harrison Central grid boss who was at the helm of John Marshall last season, has returned to his alma mater and will lead the 2-2 Purple Riders into Weirton against the 2-1 Red Riders.

“We are very familiar with coach Kropka, this will be my third time facing him with his scheme that he runs with multiple formations,” Weir High head coach Frank Sisinni said. “It’s the same concepts that he likes to run. I’ve coached against him when he was at Harrison Central, last year when he was at John Marshall and now this time it’ll be at his alma mater with Ferry.

“We know for them it all goes through Ayden Ludolph, who is a very talented quarterback, and Landyn Hores, who is one of their top receivers. We’re very familiar with the brand of football we’re going see from them Friday.”

With Kropka at the helm, Martins Ferry topped Shadyside and Leetonia the first two weeks before falling to a pair of Belmont County rivals in unbeaten Union Local and 3-1 St. Clairsville, results that Sisinni sees as a sign of improvement.

“They’re very improved from last year, and that is the impact (Kropka) makes on a rebuild. I think this is the second rebuild that he’s done,” Sisinni said. “The St. Clairsville game was an indicator of that. They were down 14-0 and came back and got back within 20-18 at one point, so we know how hard they have been playing and how challenging their schedule has been early in the year.

“Any time you face a team that is on a two-game losing streak, you know they don’t want to lose three in a row and you’re going to get their best.”

On the flip side, Kropka saw a lot he liked about the Red Riders a season ago when his Monarchs team was able to beat them, and knows a lot of those same pieces have another year of growth an experience now.

“I coached against them last year when I was at JM and they were awful young, but they were awful talented, too,” Kropka said. “It’s funny how it all plays out because I told our staff at JM (last year) they were going to be one of the toughest teams we would play (this year) because you could see they were doing the right things and were talented, they were maybe a year or two away.

“Well they have really grown and its all the same kids. They have gotten better and have a feel for what they’re doing and coach Sisinni did a good job of staying patient with them last year. They’re reaping the rewards of that now.”

In their two wins, the Red Riders have had a solid ground game, which is one of the things Kropka knows his Purple Riders have to be ready for.

“They have two of the better running backs (Jamari Bass-Hubbard and Corey Lyons) in the area and their quarterback (Malachi Stromile) has made leaps and bounds from last year,” Kropka said. “They’re line is enormous and they are as gifted physically as any team on our schedule, and that is saying something because we play a heck-of-a schedule. As far as physical talent goes, they’re as good as anybody, and now in their third year in (Sisinni’s) system, they’re more comfortable.

“We have to figure out a way to combat their physicality and their athleticism. We have to play our best, take care of the ball and do all the little things to give ourselves a chance to win this game.”

He also has a lot of respect for Sisinni and enjoys the familiar coaching matchup.

“It’s a good thing for us that we’ve been able to stay around this long,” Kropka said. “The older I get more I kind of know the same guys and know what they’re doing and why. Coach Sisinni has been doing it for a long time and it’s interesting to go against a coach like that because you kind of play the you know, that I know, that you know game.

“You end up doing the same things that got you there, you just put a little different packaging on them. He does some things different this year than he even did last year, and I do the same – it’s completely different teams (from last year’s JM to this year’s Ferry).”

As for the Red Riders, who sit at No. 13 in the W.Va. Class AA rankings, a win to get to 3-1 would be a boost to their positioning as they eye a return to the postseason. To get it, they’ll look continue where they left off last week when they out-scored Indian Creek 21-0 in the second half.

“It would definitely be big for us (to go to 3-1). We had a strong second half against Indian Creek, especially defensively,” Sisinni said. “We got back to what we had seen all year. We stumbled out of the gate a little bit, but we kind of got our footing back underneath us in the second half and got back to the physical style of defense we’re priding ourselves on that we’ve seen in our scrimmages and through the first couple of games.

“We were very pleased with our defense and the offensive output that we put up on the ground is something we want to see continue. With the balanced attack and all the different runners we have we can definitely get that going.

“The biggest thing for us is continuity. The biggest thing with us is trying to get what we’re capable of on a consistent basis all the time. If we can build on things series to series and put that product in motion, that is definitely what we want to do. We want to get the ball to our playmakers and let them be who they can be on game night.”

Back on the Purple side, its another big challenge in a string of games against bigger schools having good seasons.

“They’re all big games for us, in my career I’ve never played or coached in a little one,” Kropka said. “Any time you’re playing a school that is bigger than you, we’re in a run in our schedule where we play five schools that are bigger than us, so anytime you go through that gauntlet every game is about just trying to give yourself a chance to win it.

“We have to keep getting better and the kids have bought into that. We got better against St. Clairsville than were against Union Local, so I’m hoping that trend continues.”

The opening kick at Jimmy Carey Stadium Friday night is set for 7 p.m.