Playoff Positioning Adds To This Year’s Brooke vs. John Marshall Rivalry Game
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WELLSBURG -- The John Marshall Monarchs and Brooke Bruins are neck-and-neck. Friday, though, somebody's got to come out in-front.
The Monarchs (5-2) and Bruins (4-2) have similar records this season, and, importantly, enter their matchup Friday inside Brooke Memorial Stadium right up against eachother in the WVSSAC Class AAA football computer ratings-- John Marshall at No. 10, Brooke at No. 11. The top 16 teams at the conclusion of the regular season advance to the playoffs. In the back-half of their schedules, neither side is downplaying the importance of Friday for their team's postseason aspirations.
"It’s very, very important for both teams," John Marshall head coach Mark Cisar said. "Both teams have similar records. In the standings one’s 10 and one’s 11. So obviously it's huge for the playoff point system where we finish up or where they finish up. And both teams are playing good."
"It’s 10 versus 11," Brooke head coach Frank Sisinni said. "It’s been a few years now since there’s been a JM-Brooke game of this kind of a playoff magnitude to it this late in the season. One of the most intriguing things to me is that both teams coming off a loss here. JM played strong football against Frankfort and lost, I think it was 42-34. And us coming off a tough one at St. C., you know, we’re both in this scenario now where-- how do we respond coming off a loss? But in this case, it’s a rivalry game too."
Rivalry indeed. John Marshall and Brooke have faced each other yearly since 1969, totaling 57 matchups in that time-- making each team the other's most frequent opponent in their school's history (Wheeling Park is second for John Marshall at 51, Weir is second for Brooke right behind at 56). Both teams sound ready to go into game No. 58.
"It’s a good thing when both teams are winning and things are going well," Cisar said of the matchup. "It’s already a good game no matter what the records are. You can throw the records out the window, but it’s always a good game. It’ll be very competitive. And our kids relate to their kids. They’re hard-nosed. They’re going to play hard. And it should be a very good game."
"This one goes back to when Brooke High School opened, and it’s been going on ever since without any breaks," Sisinni said. "Anytime you get a rivalry game, you know, you throw a lot of the extra stuff out, it’s still Brooke-JM when it comes down to it. But this one has a special meaning because of the playoff implications, and the kids are excited about it."
Brooke holds the all-time series lead 41-16, though John Marshall has won seven of the last nine meetings, including last year's 35-14 Monarch victory.
Brooke's offense has been led this year by sophomore Kamden Sperringer, who has completed over 55% of his passes for 1,039 yards and 12 touchdowns. His leading receiver has been senior Bryden Horstin, who has 15 catches for 279 yards, both team-highs, and three touchdowns. Michael Gibson has four touchdowns through the air. Carter Bolen has seen the most work out of the backfield with 408 rushing yards and six scores.
Sperringer connected with Horstin for a 30-yard touchdown pass last week, and with Crosby Morris on a 38-yard touchdown pass too. Grant Yost pulled down two sacks in the game on defense.
After gameplanning for run-centric Frankfort last week, the Monarchs have to be prepared to defend the pass this go-round.
"We go from seeing a wing-T to more of a spread or pro-style offense," Cisar explained. "Obviously Brooke does throw it well. They have some decent receivers, some tall, skilled athletes. They have some hard-nosed kids in the backfield. Their quarterback’s a Sperringer-- feels like I’ve seen 10 in a row, 10 straight years at this point. Seems like a good hard-nosed kid. Got some nice-sized linemen on both sides of the ball that do some good things. We're looking at more of a traditional offense, not pack-it-in wing-T with a bunch of little fast, tough guys running around. It’s more of a pro-style offense."
John Marshall's offensive has been explosive, centered around the terrific trio of quarterback Jacob Cisar (915 passing yards, 11 touchdowns), wide receiver Landen Snyder (586 receiving yards, nine touchdowns) and running back Dalton Cooper (878 rushing yards, 14 touchdowns). Against Frankfort, Cooper rushed for 139 yards and two touchdowns, as well as catching a touchdown pass. Snyder came down with Cisar's other touchdown toss of the day.
Cisar also praised his team's linebacker play, led by senior Clay McCord and junior Reid Hamrick.
"When you average about 37 points a game, and you have a running game led by Dalton Cooper, who’s putting up big numbers where any small run that he has could go from a three or four-yard to a 75-yard touchdown or bigger, with the amount of speed he has behind his power, it’s no mystery to know that every time you’re preparing for John Marshall this year, you have to know exactly where he’s at.
"I know that they have a strong receiver with Landen Snyder who’s putting up strong numbers as well. Obviously you have Jacob Cisar who’s running that offense, who's a coach's son, a kid there that’s running the offense where his dad has built a great team around him. The way they coach their football program, it’s impressive to see the amount of yards that they put up and who they’ve done it against, some really good teams."
Friday will be Brooke's Hall of Fame game, where they will honor this year's Hall of Fame class at halftime. This year's three inductees are Ryan Kostur, Ryan Lazear and Kaylea Dulaney-Harrick.