photo by: Nick Henthorn

Wheeling Park’s Owen Dobrzynski-Hines reels in a deep pass during a Patriots regular season game. The Patriots will travel to face No. 3 Martinsburg on Saturday.

WHEELING — Another week of playoff football means another challenging opponent for the Wheeling Park Patriots, and another first-ever matchup in the works.

After defeating Woodrow Wilson in the first round of the WVSSAC Class AAAA playoffs in what was the first meeting between the two schools, No. 6 Wheeling Park (7-4) will travel to face No. 3 Martinsburg (9-2) on Saturday at 4 p.m. inside David M. Walker Stadium, the inaugural meeting between Patriots and Bulldogs set to take place on the state quarterfinals stage.”

“The guys are excited,” Wheeling Park head coach Chris Daugherty said. “Coaches are excited. It’s surprising that all the years in the playoffs, we haven’t matched up with Martinsburg at all. Our first round matchup was with somebody that we had never played. And now our second round matchup is going to be with somebody that we’ve never played.”

Though it’s a brand-new opponent, Wheeling Park is certainly getting to know the Bulldogs well- even more so with their Saturday game date.

“it’s been a great week of practice,” Daugherty said. “A little bit different because we’re going to play on Saturday, so we’ve got that extra day to prepare. We did things a little bit differently, watched a little bit more film than we normally would have on Monday. We were able to do some extra things. It’s been nice.”

The Patriots will take as much preparation as they can get against a dangerous Martinsburg squad who defeated Parkersburg South 58-0 in their own first-round playoff game.

“I’ve seen film on Martinsburg over the years, whether it’s playoff film or trade film. They’re gonna run action. They’re gonna run their quarterback. They got a really good wide receiver that they get the ball to, [Boston Todd]. Really good player. So they make you work for it. They’re very good offensively and defensively.”

“They’re good at linebacker as always, and very dynamic in the back end. They’ll run some quarter coverage, cover four, and man, so they give you some different looks in the back end.”

Against Parkersburg South, Todd caught three touchdown passes of 37, 50 and 63 yards. Kingston McDonald-Gibson ran for 152 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown run. Their defense recorded three sacks.

As for Wheeling Park, their own run game was it’s usual productive self against Woodrow Wilson as senior running back Brenna Wack rushed for 258 yards and four touchdowns against the Flying Eagles, becoming Park’s all-time leading rusher in the process.

The road-graters up-front for Wheeling Park on the offensive line are Liam Waldeck, Reuben Rouse, Carson McCort, Kayden Fortney and Kameron Dietrich, with Nolan Yanchak a big blocking addition at tight end.

“One thing our kids have done a great job of all year long is; just keep playing,” Daugherty said. “You know, regardless of the situation, regardless of the score, just keep playing football. If you do that, you play present and keep playing, good things will happen.

“It wasn’t a great first quarter for us against Beckley, but you know what? They kept after it and we flipped it and ended up getting the win. And I think that’ll be important to do against Martinsburg because they’re obviously a very good football team. They’re going to have good moments. They’re going to have some times where they’re going to have some success, and we need to just stay the course. Keep weathering the storm, keep playing hard, and we expect good things to happen when we do that.”