photo by: Kristin Mazgaj

Wheeling Central’s Nico Kusic (left) and Max Olejasz (right) celebrate a touchdown during the Maroon Knights’ playoff victory over Tolsia. Central will face Pendleton County on Friday in a Class A state semifinal game.

WHEELING – If Pendleton County and Wheeling Central are meeting on the football field, it must be playoff time in the Mountain State. The Wildcat and Maroon Knights have met four times, with all those matchups being in the postseason.

Top-ranked Wheeling Central (8-2) will look to remain perfect against No. 4 Pendleton County (10-2) Friday night on the artificial surface at Wheeling University’s Bishop Schmitt Field in W.Va. Class A semifinal action. Kickoff is set for 7.

The victor will face the winner of Saturday’s other Class A semifinal – No. 7 Cameron (8-3) at third-ranked Clay-Battelle (11-1) at The Joe and Louie Statler Athletic Complex in Blacksville – on Friday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. for the state championship at Laidley Field in Charleston.

Wheeling Central has outscored Pendleton County 178-54 in their four previous meetings, the last coming in 2019 by a 27-7 count in Franklin. It is an amazing 69-16 against playoff competition, including 12-1 in championship games – the lone loss coming to Moorefield in 2001. The Wildcat, which started football in 1998, are 13-14 all-time in the postseason.

“It’s the state semifinals. We’re practicing Thursday to get ready for Friday,” veteran Wheeling Central head coach Mike Young, in his 20th year at the Maroon Knights helm, said. “I feel good about our kids. We’re coming off a game in which we played well in all three phases.”

Wheeling Central’s defense jump-started its’ 41-8 victory over Tucker County last week. The Maroon Knights picked off back-to-back passes, returning both to the house by Troy Mortakis and Max Olejasz from 55 and 12 yards, respectively, to turn a 7-0 game into a 21-0 rout just three minutes in.

“Defensively, we set the tone for the rest of the game early on with those two interception returns,” Young added.

“To get that running clock and move forward is a good feeling, especially when we got through the game mostly injury-free, plus we’ve got some kids coming back.”

Also picking off passes were Joey Hall and Joey Jerrome. Hall got the scoring started when he hauled in a 41-yard strike from Kusic on the third snap of the game.

Sophomore Trenton McCardle leads the Maroon Knights in tackles with 69, two more than senior Max Stillion, who also has 6.5 quarterback sacks and a like number of TFLs. Moertakis has seven sacks and 9.5 TFLs. Hall has five picks.

Kade Koroneos continued to chew up yardage against Tucker County. He surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the season and now has 1,042 and 21 TDs on 127 carries. He also has 27 catches for 440 yards and four more scores. He has collected 1,857 all-purpose yards.

“Kade continues to catch the ball and run with the ball. He is definitely our workhorse,” the coach added. “He picks up yardage when it doesn’t look like there is anything there, but then he’s into the second level. If we can get him to that level, I like our chances.”

According to Young, Niko Kusic is improving with every game.

“He’s gaining more confidence and he’s running the ball with more authority,” Young said of his 6-3, 195-pound junior quarterback. “He’s also throwing the ball with more consistency.”

Another aspect of Kusic’s game is his scrambling ability, as he displayed last week with a highlight-reel 42-yard TD run.

“I think he ran 100 yards just to get 42,” Young said with a chuckle. “He has good legs and good vision that allows him to see the entire field.”

Kusic has 1,160 yards and 14 touchdowns on 73 of 134 accuracy through the air. He has thrown four INTs. On the ground, he has carried 65 times for 537 yards and five more scores.

In addition to Koroneos out of the backfield, Kusic has three primary targets in Hall (17-256-4tds), Olejasz (13-216-3) and Mortakis (12-209-2).

If not for the guys in the trenches, Koroneos and Kusic wouldn’t be able to pile up the yardage.

“Our offensive line has gotten better each week. We’ve challenged them every day to get better, and they have,” Young praised. “They’ve improved. We lost one kid (to injury), another steps up and does the job. It’s always been next-man-up.”

Those interior linemen include junior Olen Ames (5-11, 215), senior Carver Bolon (5-6, 195), junior Cooper Jones (5-11, 270), junior Dom Paesani (5-10, 250) and senior Luke Wear (6-7, 290).

“Having (Dustin) Sanner back really helps,” Young noted. “That gives us a three-headed monster in the backfield, and it also gives us some power blocking.” The 6-2, 200-pound junior missed most of the season with an injury.

The Maroon Knights special teams play has been solid.

“Clay (Petry) puts the ball in the end zone for touchbacks that allows our defense to start in good field position and he made 6 of 7 extra points the other night,” Young said of the strong-legged junior.

On playing at home, Young said, “This is a tribute to the kids and the Central family,” he said. “You don’t have these success stories unless you have success around you. There’s been a lot of success here and a lot of tradition. These kids don’t want to let their uncles, cousins, brothers, fathers, grandfathers down. In 20-some years, we’ve won 11 state championships, so that says a lot about our program.”

Pendleton County, much like Tucker County, likes to air it out on offense as Colton Roberson has put up some impressive numbers in 12 games thus far. The 6-0, 170-pound sophomore has completed 179 of 287 (62.4 percent) of his passes for 3,209 yards, 35 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He has also run 176 times for 1,179 yards and 25 touchdowns. He has four games in which he has rushed for more than 100 yards.

“Their quarterback is pretty elusive … has a good arm. He scrambles well and has a few good wide receivers that make you defend the entire field. They are very athletic.”

When Roberson takes to the airways, he looks for the Owens brothers – senior Chase and sophomore Travis. The elder has 68 receptions for 1,086 yards and eight TDs, while the kid brother has caught 65 for 1,189 and 17 six-pointers. Senior Britton Lough is also a viable threat with 29 catches for 602 yards and half-a-dozen TDs.

Senior Kam Redman has been good on 43 of 51 PATs, but hasn’t attempted a field goal.

Defensively, Roberson shows his all-around athletic ability with a team-leading 143 tackles, of which 11.5 have resulted in minus yardage. He has picked off three passes, recovered a trio of fumbles and forced an eye-popping seven fumbles.

Pendleton County dropped a 42-20 decision to Tucker County on October 3.