Photo by Joe Lovell Wheeling Miners’ Alex Coleman (3) hauls in a pass during Friday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Outlaws inside WesBanco Arena. He caught two touchdowns and also ran for a pair in a 62-6 Miners rout.

WHEELING – After giving up a touchdown on the first offensive snap of the game, the Wheeling Miners reeled off the next 62 points to rout the visiting Pittsburgh Outlaws 62-6 in an American Arena League 2 professional indoor football game inside WesBanco Arena.

The Miners (3-1) led 27-6 in a penalty-filled first half, but settled down in the second half, outscoring the visitors 35-0.

“I just think we calmed down in the second half and quit trying to argue and fight with the other team,” head coach Chris McKinney said of the extra-curricular activities that prolonged the first half. “We just played football in the second half. We also imposed our will on them by running the ball more. We beat them down to where they didn’t have anything left for a pass rush and we passed the ball really well.”

Former Penn State quarterback Darryl Clark completed 14 of 24 passes for 232 yards and four touchdowns, with 121 yards and three six-pointers coming in the second half. The 6-5, 225-pounder ran twice for 24 yards and added a 5-yard touchdown run.

“We were a little rusty to start, but we just settled down a little bit and got things going,” Clark said of the huge second half. “Some of the reads I made were open and I just got back to playing catch with the guys.”

Clark’s favorite target was Alex Coleman. The Capital University product caught half of Clark’s completions for a whopping 144 yards. He had touchdown grabs of 36 and 24 yards and also ran for two TDs.

As a team, the Miners compiled 287 yards on 21 offensive snaps, with 55 coming on seven carries. Former West Liberty standout Charles Westbrook had a 16-yard TD run, while Rainius Daramola added a 30-yard TD catch and Kendrey Thurman latched onto a 11-yard strike.

Defensively, the Miners yielded a mere 69 yards of offense to the Outlaws, knocking starting quarterback Tyreer Mills out of the game early in the second quarter. He was 6-of-8 for 27 yards at the time, with one pick. His backup, Meechie Cunningham, completed just 2 of 13 attempts for 12 yards with a trio of interceptions.

Defensive back Dontae Mason, from Delaware Valley, picked off two passes, returning the first 14 yards for a touchdown. His second theft came three yards deep in the end zone and he weaved his way down the field for a lightning-quick pick-six.

“Our defense is stellar,” McKinney advised. “The guys run to the ball and make plays. We’ve got three great defensive backs. (Dontae) Mason had an outstanding game. If he doesn’t win all the defensive awards in this league, I don’t know what is wrong.”

Placekicker Eric Marapodi had his troubles early on, but he finished the game with five PAT kicks, including a two-point drop kick that capped the scoring.

Thurman and JT Taylor also had interceptions for the Miners, while Colton Ryan recovered a fumble.