photo by: Nick Henthorn

Wheeling Park’s Brennan Wack runs past the defense during a Patriots game against Butler earlier this season. Wack and Wheeling Park will host rival John Marshall this Friday at 7 p.m.

WHEELING – A longstanding rival begins anew on Friday as the John Marshall Monarchs (2-7) travel to Wheeling Island Stadium to face the Wheeling Park Patriots (6-3) in either team’s final game of the 2024 regular season.

Both teams are coming off wins, Wheeling Park vanquishing Talawanda 49-36 before going on a bye week, and John Marshall defeating Point Pleasant 34-21 last week.

John Marshall’s 34 points were their second-highest mark of the season, as the Monarchs found explosive plays from the likes of freshman running back Dalton Cooper.

“We played extremely well on both sides of the ball,” John Marshall head coach Mark Cisar said. “We had some big plays, we had an 80-yard touchdown run and a 60-yard touchdown run. We had a pick-six, and we picked up a fumble and ran it back for six more. We seem to be looking good on both sides of the ball.

“We struggled a little bit in the second half sustaining drives. We turned it over on a fumble once. But we scored a touchdown when we needed to score a touchdown there in the fourth quarter, and we moved the ball pretty good when we had to in crunch time. Real pleased with what we did.”

Wheeling Park, on the other hand, got some needed R&R over their late-season break.

“Originally at the beginning of the year I hated the bye week being that late,” Wheeling Park head coach Chris Daugherty said. “But the reality of it, when we got to the bye week, it was pretty nice. We had nine games, we were beat up, we’ve got a tough schedule. Getting through it was demanding.

“It was nice to have a bye week, get everybody healthy. We’re excited to play John Marshall now.”

The Patriots are currently ranked No. 3 in WVSSAC Class AAAA, with playoff spots two through seven within a small margin of each other in the SSAC’s computer ratings, from No. 2 Huntington at 15.72 to No. 7 Washington at 14.33. Needing a win to avoid slipping down the totem pole, Wheeling Park is not looking past this Friday.

“We’ve tried to stay focused week-to-week and not veer from that,” Daugherty said. “We’ve done nothing but get ready for John Marshall because John Marshall would like nothing more than to knock us off on senior night and ruin our playoff position. Ya, we’re in the playoffs, but where? I don’t know. I’m sure John Marshall would like to knock us down a couple pegs and send us in seventh or eighth and not third or fourth. We’re excited about the potential for the playoffs but John Marshall is always an important game and our sights are focused on this game this week.”

In their latest game against Talawanda, it was junior running back Brenna Wack (271 rushing yards, three touchdowns) and senior tight end Jameson Maynard (seven catches, 87 yards, two touchdowns) who once again had big statistical days. The pair are at the top of the Monarch scouting report.

“Very impressive,” Cisar said about Wheeling Park. “They do a great job on both sides of the ball and it starts with the o-line and the d-line. They’ve got skill guys around them who can make plays in the backfield and at receiver, and it’s the same thing with their defense, they have d-backs who can make plays.

“Real impressed with a couple of their guys- Maynard, unbelievable, fullback, wing, tight end, linebacker. [Wack] is having an outstanding year. But it starts with the line. A couple guys play both ways, but not a whole lot, they have depth and it makes a huge difference for them. They have the explosive play. They’ve had long runs this year, kickoff returns, punt returns. It seems like they’re a little more disciplined than before, and they have big-play capability but they’ve also had a lot of long drives this year where they’ve sustained drives.”

John Marshall has had some struggles this season, but their defense has often kept them in games- opponents have scored more than 24 points only three times this year- and the Monarchs have captured both their wins over the last four weeks, a 2-2 stretch.

“They run a 3-4 defense, we’re very similar in how we do things defensively,” Daugherty said of John Marshall. “In some ways that’s good for us, we have some familiarity in our offense against a 3-4, because sometimes we go against our defense in practice and have all through the summer. Our kids have lined up against a 3-4 and that helps for us. I’m sure they’re going to say the same thing.

“Offensively, they look like the normal John Marshall- they’re going to throw the ball a little bit more but they’re going to be physical up-front and try to run the ball. Coach Cisar throws the ball more than they have in the past, and they’re going to try to mix it up on you for sure.”

Wheeling Park has won the last 13 meetings between the two teams. Regardless of the record, the cross-county rivalry makes for a special night for both communities.

“I think it’s the truest thing to a local rivalry that Wheeling Park has,” Daugherty said. “The Moundsville-Glen Dale area and Wheeling, a lot of kids know each other outside of school, outside of a football field. Our middle schools play each other. These kids grow up playing fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth grade, and they get to know each other. It’s an important game at Wheeling Park, it always has been- the staff kids with me all the time, because my wife was a John Marshall graduate. That always makes it more important in my house. I know it’s always been an important game for John Marshall too. I think the players enjoy it, and the fanbase enjoys the game also.”

“Some of their best friends go to school up there,” Cisar said. “It’s huge, it’s good for the community. We’ve struggled the last few years, they’ve really taken it to us. 2010, 2011 is probably the last year we beat them. But that doesn’t mean we’re not going to show up and fight and do everything we can to win. If some bounces go our way we can be right there at the end. That’s about all we can ask for, to be in the game in the fourth quarter with a chance to be right there at the end.”

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Wheeling Island Stadium.