photo by: Nick Henthorn

John Marshall’s Cain Martin (left) and Xavier Wells (right) celebrate a Monarch touchdown during John Marshall’s game last week vs. Point Pleasant.

MOUNDSVILLE — Since Wheeling Park opened in 1976, there’s been no opponent that the Patriots and John Marshall Monarchs have seen more than each other.

The two teams’ 50 meetings are the most against a common opponent in Wheeling Park’s history- Brooke is right behind at 49. Brooke has more meetings against John Marshall, with 57 in all, but eight of those came before 1976.

Friday inside Monarch Stadium will mark the 51st meeting between Patriots (5-4) and Monarchs (6-3), with major playoff implications woven into the usual stakes of the rivalry matchup- as you’d expect from the final game of the regular season.

“I think when we play, you can throw the records out,” Wheeling Park head coach Chris Daugherty said. “It’s the only school that we’re playing currently that we have played since 1976, which is the first season of football here at Wheeling Park High School. From 1976 to 2025, we have continued this rivalry and it’s a real rivalry. We’re 15 minutes away from each other. We grow up, we play pee-wee football, we play all the middle school sports against each other.

We know each other, we know what they have, they know what we have, we know parents, we know the teachers and coaches well.So it becomes a rivalry after all this time, but it’s a healthy, respectful rivalry. I think we both respect each other, but it’s an important date on the schedule every year for both schools.”

“Our kids know their kids, hang out with some of their kids,” John Marshall head coach Mark Cisar said. “It’s a rival. I know a lot of their kids from coaching two different sports, run into a lot of them, see them all the time. And that goes both ways.

“The game’s here at our place, so that’s good for us. Should be a good environment. We’ve played well at home this year. We’re 4-0 at home. So hopefully our kids show up and play well and just give us everything they got and we’ll go from there and you know whatever happens happens but I just want our kids to go out there and absolutely battle.”

Wheeling Park currently sits as the seventh-rated team in Class AAAA, on the border of the top eight home teams in a 16-team playoff field. John Marshall is rated 16th in Class AAA, making the game a near must-win for the Monarchs’ playoff hopes.

“I told our guys, you know, this is a situation you want to be in,” Cisar said. “You win, you know for sure you’re in. This is like game seven of the World Series. We put ourselves in this spot. It’s not the greatest spot, not knowing, but at the same time, we know what happens if we win, and what happens if we lose. We’re going to the last week and you have a chance to make the playoffs. I told our kids we could not ask for anything more.”

For Wheeling Park, who has won the last 14 meetings between the two teams and holds a 35-15 all-time advantage, Friday is a chance to build momentum and shore up their spot in the playoff field.

“From what I know, we’re both playing for something,” Daugherty said. “Parks playing for a little bit higher their seed, from what I’ve been told, Joe Marshall’s playing to get in.

“I think both programs are gonna lay it on the line to make sure that those things happen. You know, it’s going to affect us if we win or lose. It’s going to affect Joe Marshall if they win or lose. So I would imagine you’re gonna get great effort out of both staffs. You’re gonna get great effort out of both teams.”

John Marshall is coming off of a 53-21 victory over Point Pleasant, a game where Monarchs senior quarterback Kayden Knapp tossed six touchdown passes, four to Cain Martin.

Leading rusher Dalton Cooper was limited on offense last week as he makes his way back from an injury. Cisar said he continues to improve and his workload for Friday is still to be decided.

“They’re having a good season and they’ve got a bunch of wins and, you know, offensively they’re going to run it and throw it,” Daugherty said of John Marshall. “They’re going to test your secondary and they’ve done a good job this year of putting points on the board and then defensively they’re variable. They’re in a 3-4 set, but, you know, they do a lot of different things out of it. And so I think it’s a tough task for both our offense and our defense this week, being ready for the challenge.”

Wheeling Park, meanwhile, is coming off of a bye week, one that was much needed for the beat-up Patriots, according to Daugherty, and one that has given Park plenty of time to prepare for their opponent Friday.

“Obviously, a very good team,” Cisar said of Park. “They play a very tough schedule. Obviously, we know we’re going to have to shut down [Brennan] Wack. I mean, last year against us, he ran all over us, and it was a tremendous game last year.

Wack set the school record for rushing yards in a game last year vs. John Marshall, running for 302 yards in a Park home victory.

“He’s the key to their offense, but at the same time, they have other weapons,” Cisar said. “They have guys that can go catch it. Bordas throws the ball well. So defensively, we have to play well. With that being said, at the same time offensively, we’ve got to try to put some points on the board and try to control the ball and move the chains.

“We can’t talk about how big of a game it is for us. Our kids know it’s big. It’s important for us, obviously. But we have to play a little better defense than we played in our three losses. And we’ve talked about it, and our kids know that.”

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. inside Monarch Stadium.