The visiting Polar Bears (5-1) took down the Patriots (4-3) 45-42 in an outing that took on the cadence of a heavyweight boxing match, with haymakers flying back-and-forth all night.

Fairmont Senior, who have now notched back-to-back victories, was able to win the shootout after time expired on Wheeling Park in the final drive of the game. Following a Polar Bear turnover-on-downs at Wheeling Park’s 15 yard line with just 35 seconds to play, the Patriots- without any timeouts- picked up a couple of first downs but ran out of time.

“This is a huge win for us,” Fairmont Senior head coach Mark Sampson said. “This is one we’re gonna really enjoy. This facility is unbelievable with the upgrades they made– it’s always been great, but with the new turf and what they’ve done in the locker rooms, this place is awesome.

“To come in here and get a win against one of the biggest schools in the state, in their house, against a very talented team that’s also really well coached– we’ve got a ton of respect for that program and just really proud of our coaching staff, really proud of our players. You know, this was a hard-fought win and it’s going to be a big one for us moving forward.”

Wheeling Park has now dropped their last two games after falling to Morgantown, ranked atop Class AAAA, last week.

“Everybody knows we’re without Brennan, and we think he’s one of the best players in the state, if not the best. But at the end of the day, kids battled,” Wheeling Park head coach Chris Daugherty said. “You know, we were in this game, at times it seemed like we were out of the game, and no one quit.

“They stayed the course and they battled back and that’s a credit to the team that we’ve got. I think we’ve got the toughest schedule in the state of West Virginia. We get absolutely no Friday off. We’re playing a one loss or a two loss team every week, and next week we’re going to go to Butler and they are six and two. Every week’s a test and these kids rise to the occasion. It didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but the effort and what the team did tonight, I was proud of it.”

Both teams’ quarterbacks had impressive days- Wheeling Park’s Jay Bordas threw for 278 yards and three touchdowns, scoring another six on the ground, while Fairmont Senior’s Anthony Smith threw for 177 yards and touchdown while rushing for 102 yards and three scores.

After accounting for six touchdowns last week, it was another big day for Smith, a sophomore.

“Really proud of him,” Sampson said. “He’s really coming into his own. Last week he only threw four incompletions and three of those were dropped, so he’s playing really well. He’s a kid that just wants to win and he showed that tonight, being able to put his head down, be a runner when we needed him to. Really proud of him, really proud of all the guys. The line blocked phenomenal all night. Wheeling Park had been very stubborn against the run all year and we were able to have some success in the ground game and through the air, so really proud of our guys.”

Bordas connected with top target Owen Dobrzynsk-Hines on touchdown tosses of 46 and 39 yards, and threw a 40-yard, fourth-quarter go-ball to Tatum Justice for a score too.

“Our quarterback I thought did some nice things both with his arm and his feet a couple times at the end,” Daugherty said. “And some wide receivers were able to get loose and make some plays and, you know, definitely happy about that side of our offense and how it’s grown.”

The offense was non-stop from the very first drive Friday, where Fairmont Senior picked up six first drives in a six-minute drive which was capped by Smith’s first rushing touchdown, an eight-yard option run.

The Bears’ Gabe Kubasky caught a deep ball on a post route for a 28-yard score to put Fairmont Senior ahead 14-0 with 1:52 to play in the first.

Wheeling Park’s first score came midway through the second quarter, Isaac Sands dashing in eight yards for a touchdown on what was his 10th carry of the game. Sands, picking up much of the slack for Park’s injured all-stater Brennan Wack, rushed 30 times for 182 yards and two touchdowns Friday.

Fairmont Senior scored on a tush-push goalline dive for Smith’s second rushing score, putting the Bears ahead 21-7 with 7:54 ’till halftime.

Wheeling Park drew back within one score just two minutes later, Bordas making an impressive pass under pressure to Dobrzynsk-Hines for a 46-yard touchdown bomb.

A 35-yard touchdown run by Fairmont Senior’s Christian Hrapchak and another touchdown catch for Dobrzynsk-Hines, this one a 39-yarder on a ball perfectly placed between two defenders near the pylon, kept the differential to one score, 28-21, with two minutes to go until halftime.

With Wheeling Park starting the second half with the ball, a stop going into the locker rooms would’ve been significant, but the Polar Bears’ Jason Walker had other plans. The senior busted a game-changing 88-yard kickoff return for a touchdown that put Fairmont Senior ahead 25-21, where the score would stand at halftime.

“Oh, it was huge,” Sampson said of the return TD. “I mean, every play was a huge play, but special teams really came in big for us. They had a great week of practice and it showed tonight.”

“Anytime you give up a special teams or a defensive score or the other team gets that, it’s big,” Daugherty said. “It usually changes the game if something big happens on special teams. We’ll watch film and see what happened and get it fixed, but, you know, [Fairmont Senior] did a nice job.”

The two teams traded turnovers in the third quarter, Walker coming up with an interception on a deep pass and Park’s Jake Franke recovering a fumble on the next possession. The Patriots capitalized, Sands scoring his second touchdown of the game on a five-yard dash to bring Friday to a 35-28 score with four minutes in the third quarter.

Fairmont Senior’s Ben Smith put through a 28-yard field goal from a wide hash to increase his team’s lead to 38-28 as the third quarter ended.

Anthony Smith reached the end zone on a two-yard QB blast with seven minutes to play in the fourth quarter to make it a 45-28 ballgame. Jay Bordas mirrored him with a one-yard QB keeper touchdown to bring Park back within 10 points, 45-35 with five minutes in the game.

Jacob Robinson kicked a fine onside kick for Wheeling Park, recovered by Dobrzynsk-Hines, to give Wheeling Park new life, and on their first play back, Bordas hit Tatum Justice on a go-ball for a 40-yard touchdown to cut the Bears’ lead to three, 45-42.

Fairmont Senior whittled down the clock, until they were faced with a 4th-and-10 from Park’s 15 yard-line. An incompletion gave Park the ball back, but without any timeouts, they got just past midfield before the clock hit zero’s.

Fairmont Senior will next play Elkins on the road. Wheeling Park will travel to Butler (Pa.).