photo by: Nick Henthorn

Wheeling Park’s Brennan Wack takes a carry up the middle last Friday during the Patriots’ playoff win over Woodrow Wilson.

WHEELING — It was only at the start of last season that Wheeling Park’s Brennan Wack got the nod to be the Patriots’ starting tailback.

But life comes at you fast, and across the 21 games that the Patriot senior has played in since then, Wack certainly hasn’t slowed down in piling up production– and accolades.

Last Friday was one of the biggest accomplishments yet for Wack, whose play on the gridiron doubtlessly has him in the middle of the hunt for more awards come season’s end.

In his most recent game against Woodrow Wilson in the first round of the Class AAAA playoffs, Wack rushed for 258 yards and four touchdowns in a 27-14 victory, breaking the previous career rushing record of 4,010, held by the legendary Boogie Johnson, and setting a new high-mark of 4,133 yards. Wack also broke his school’s touchdown record in the Patriots’ regular-season finale against John Marshall, and currently stands at 55 career rushing touchdowns.

“As he got closer to it, it was important to him,” Wheeling Park head coach Chris Daugherty said of the feat. “It was not important early on in his career. And even at the end of last year, it was nothing that he talked about. I think about midseason, I think he understood he had a shot to break the record.”

“You know, that’s Boogie Johnson. He was a Kennedy Award winner. And I think it’s another Kennedy Award-season when you look at what Brennan was able to do, I think it says a lot that Boogie won the Kennedy Award. Now we have Brennan breaking that record. I think Brennan deserves a very strong look statewide for that same award.”

“It’s definitely a huge deal for me,” Wack said of surpassing the old rushing mark. “It was a really old record by a really good player and it just means a lot for me. It was actually one of the goals that I had set for myself before the season, so definitely great.”

Johnson won the Kennedy in 1991, the only Wheeling Park player to have won the award.

“Just in general, most of the time when you see that someone broke their high school career rushing mark, you think that kid probably had at least three years as the tailback, and he hasn’t,” Daugherty said “After the game, when I heard he had broken the record and went for 4,100-and-something yards, and then I heard he did it in 21 games, you know, that shocked me as the head coach and being, obviously, at every one of these games, you know, you just felt like it was more than [21 games].

“But, you know, you look at the contests he wasn’t available and out, and to still see that he basically ran for 2,000 yards again, is amazing.”

Wack missed two games this season, but still has racked up 1,875 stripes on the ground, with 25 rushing touchdowns. He has averaged over 200 yards per game, and eight yards per carry.

Coming off a Curt Warner Award-winning season where he rushed for 2,258 yards and 31 touchdowns, Daugherty sees a yet-better player this year as compared to Wack’s junior campaign, where Wack set school records for rushing touchdowns in a game, rushing yards in a game, rushing yards in a half, average rushing yards per game, and rushing yards in a season. Part of that is offensive improvement– Daugherty noted Wack’s improved vision in the zone running game– but part comes from added responsibilities that Wack has taken up as a defensive player this year.

“I do think he’s improved, and it’s hard to improve off of a junior year like that,” Daugherty said. “We’re adding to his plate defensively, and I think he’s really, really good defensively. I could see him playing playing defense in college. I think he could be elite. And, you know, when you’re the tailback and you’re getting 20, 30, sometimes even 35 carries, it’s hard to play someone defensively, but we’ve added that to his plate.”

“He’s done an unbelievable job. He’s changed games from a defensive side and probably doesn’t get enough credit sometimes when he’s in defensively because of what he does offensively.”

Wack lines up as a linebacker for the Patriots’ defense.

“Last year was probably the only year that I didn’t really play as much defense,” Wack said. “I like it a lot because I think it helps keep me warm, and I can make a difference on both sides of the ball. It’s definitely fun. I think it helps the team and, you know, I’m willing to do whatever.”

Wack certainly has been a difference-maker for the Patriots, who have gone 7-2 across games in which Wack has played. Wheeling Park is hoping there are more big plays to come as they prepare to hit the road and face Martinsburg in the Class AAAA quarterfinals Friday. Wack will certainly be at the top of the Bulldogs’ scouting reports.

“You talk to coaches before, after the game, and [Wack]’s the topic of conversation,” Daugherty said. “And I know there’s a lot of coaches in the state that respect him. You know, we’ve played in the Eastern Panhandle. We played in the middle of the state. Really, we just haven’t been in the South, although he had an unbelievable game against Huntington last year. And I know Billy [Seals, Huntington head coach] felt strongly- ‘that was the best tailback we’ve seen.’ And that’s something I hear a lot. He’s an amazing talent, and it’s good to see him to get some of this recognition that he deserves. But, you know, we’re hoping that as time goes on, I think he’s the best player in the state of West Virginia and deserving of the Kennedy Award.”

What would the award mean for Wack?

“That would mean, probably, the most,” Wack said, when asked. “That was definitely my goal before the season. Missing two games doesn’t help, but, I think no one’s really done what I’ve done, with my workload, with the whole defense keying in on me. But there’s a lot of great players around the state who could definitely win it, so that would be amazing if I could.”