Wheeling Park Ready For Latest Challenge vs. Mohigans In Season Of Big Games
Nick Henthorn Trending
MORGANTOWN -- Friday has all the markings of a big-game feel- an OVAC 5A meeting, a rivalry game, a game between two of the top three Class AAAA teams in the latest WVSSAC ratings as No. 3 Wheeling Park (4-1) travels to face No. 1 Morgantown (5-0)
But for Wheeling Park, big games have become the norm this season.
"I feel like that's been every week for us," Wheeling Park Chris Daugherty said about the high stakes going into Friday. "You know, I think this will be the third time this season we've played the number one team in the state of West Virginia. And we just got done with a 4-1 St. Clairsville team. We have had no time off. So, we've got another very, very good football team on our hands, and another chance for our kids to prove themselves."
Wheeling Park defeated St. Clairsville 21-7 in their most recent outing, a game where top tailback Brennan Wack rushed 15 times for 152 yards and a touchdown, continuing his stellar season, before exiting the game in the third quarter with a lower body injury. Daugherty said his star senior will be a game time decision against the Mohigans.
"It's a possibility that he plays," Daugherty said. "We're just gonna wait and see how he feels."
With or without Wack, Wheeling Park's rushing attack will be tested against Morgantown. Always a sturdy defense the Mohigans allowed under 40 yards rushing in a shutout win last week vs. Spring Mills, the latest instance in a long string of Morgantown cooling off opposing running games.
"I think any game you're trying to win the line of scrimmage, and Morgantown makes that difficult," Daugherty said. "You know, they're good in that area. But it's definitely something we're gonna try to do every week. It's a very good team. There's a reason they're undefeated."
In lieu of Wack during the second half of Park's game vs. St. Clairsville, senior Isaac Sands stepped right in and ran 12 times for 105 yards, including a 35-yard rush.
Morgantown is led by quarterback Maddox Twigg, who ran for a touchdown against Spring Mills, and also pulled off a pick-six on the defensive end, where he is a defensive back.
"Well, there's no doubt that their quarterback, Twigg, gives them the ability to run it, throw it. He can run it himself, and does," Daugherty said. "They've got a great offensive line. Defensively, they're the norm. They're very stout, hard to run on. You know, it looks like a normal Morgantown team to me, except that Twigg is not the average sophomore high school quarterback. He allows them to hurt you through the passing game and also the running game."
For Park, Wack sits at 1205 rushing yards and 17 rushing touchdowns. Through the air, junior quarterback Jay Bordas tossed a pair of touchdowns, one to Sands-- who lined up at receiver prior to moving to tailback after Wack's departure- and one to leading receiver Owen Dobrzynski-Hines, who is at 18 catches for 252 yards going into the game vs. Morgantown.
"We've all known Jay has the ability," Daugherty said of his team's passing attack. "And just in general, not just Jay, but our passing game, we finally had some things click for our passing game, for our wide receivers and our quarterback. And Jay threw some exceptional balls last week. I thought he was very confident in all his reads and what he was doing and it showed."
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. on Pony Lewis Field.