photo by: Nick Henthorn

Wheeling Park’s Isaac Sands is brought down by a group of defenders following a long gain during the Patriots’ game against Musselman earlier in the season. The Patriots will play Fairmont Senior on Friday inside Wheeling Island Stadium.

WHEELING — The Wheeling Park Patriots (4-2) return home this Friday after taking a tough loss to Morgantown, the top team in W.Va. Class AAAA for many weeks running now. The Patriots, ranked as the No. 4 team in Class AAAA in the latest WVSSAC Computer Ratings, will have another high-quality opponent up next in Fairmont Senior (4-1), themselves the No. 4 team in Class AAA in those same ratings.

“It’s been a good week,” Daugherty said in a Wednesday interview. “A lot of rain yesterday, obviously, but still had a good practice and, you know, coming off of Morgantown, we gave up, really, three explosive plays, otherwise that’s a 7-7 game. Really played good defense, minus three football plays. You can only be upset for so long.

“I mean, they’re a good football team. And again, it was probably a lot closer than the score. But now you gotta get ready for Fairmont and they pose a different problem. They’re gonna throw the ball a little bit more. They always do. It’s another team that’s one loss or two losses and a one loss team right now. So our schedule, again, is not an easy one.”

Against Morgantown, Wheeling Park was without star running back Brennan Wack, who in just five games had put up a full season’s worth of all-state level play, totalling 1,205 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Whether Wack plays this week or not, the Patriots showed against the Mohigans that they were still capable of running the ball. Isaac Sands ran for 70 yards vs. Morgantown and Nolan Yanchak ran for 55 yards.

“I think the common thread there is our offensive line,” Daugherty said. “You know, they’re doing a good job of creating gaps, and it’s no secret that we run outside zone, and they’ve done a good job so far of being very consistent and allowing our backs to, to find a hole and, and hit that hole. I think our line has done a good job, and hopefully they continue.

As the Patriots’ season rounds its midway point, Wheeling Park quarterback Jay Bordas continues to progress. The junior tossed a 50-yard touchdown pass to Tatum Justice against Morgantown, an explosive play that Park would surely like to see more and more of.

“It was nice to be able to get the ball downfield a little bit and make a throw and a catch and that turned into a touchdown,” Daugherty said. “Hopefully we can do more of that going forward. But, you know, it was a great ball by Jay. It was a great catch by Tatum and then he finished it out by getting it in the end zone.”

The Fairmont Senior Polar Bears ran wild over Buckhannon-Upshur last week, winning 61-30. Quarterback Anthony Smith accounted for six touchdowns in the thrashing, and threw for 406 yards.

“Coach Sampson’s been down there for a long time as the OC and now he’s the head coach and this is his first year as head coach,” Daugherty said of Fairmont Senior. “Offensively they’re doing a lot of similar stuff that they’ve done and he does a great job making you prepare for run and pass. They’re always athletic, big kids up front. They’re just one of those teams that you know they’re gonna make you work, they’re gonna keep coming at you. Just a very good football team.

Wheeling Park traveled to Fairmont Senior last year, the two teams’ first meeting since 2011, and lost, though the Patriots still own the all-time record 13-9.

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