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Monarchs Hold Off Patriots For Long-Awaited Win

By NICK HENTHORN 7 min read

WHEELING -- From coming out of the gates hot to finding themselves on the ropes late, the John Marshall Monarchs needed a knockout punch late in their Friday rivalry game against Wheeling Park-- and found it from star tailback Dalton Cooper.

After building a 21-0 halftime lead, the Monarchs watched as the homestanding Patriots battled back to a 21-14 ballgame, and faced with a third down late in the fourth quarter, John Marshall needed a first down to ice the game.

For the 31st time in Friday's contest on Wheeling Island Stadium, John Marshall handed the ball off to Cooper, and the junior delivered the needed yardage and then some, running for 25 yards to send John Marshall to a 21-14 victory in both teams' regular season finale, Cooper finishing with 258 yards from scrimmage in an explosive outing.

Friday snapped a 15-game streak of Patriot wins in the longstanding rivalry in what John Marshall head coach Mark Cisar called a "huge win for the program."

"Huge for the school," Cisar continued. "Got up 21-nothing. They fought back. We knew they would fight back. We had some penalties, we did some stupid things in the second half. But just a huge, huge job by our offense on the last possession to finish the game off. I mean, [Wheeling Park] battled. We knew it was going to be a battle. Nothing’s easy. Obviously a rivalry game, outstanding plays on both sides."

John Marshall first got on the board on a rollout pass play from Jacob Cisar at Park's 28 yard-line, the senior field general launching a ball to the pylon that fellow senior Landen Snyder came down with midway through the first quarter. The ensuing extra point was blocked, giving John Marshall a 6-0 advantage.

Dalton Cooper ripped off his biggest run of the game to set up the Monarchs' next score in the second quarter, a 58-yarder that brought his team close to the goalline. Cisar finished off the drive with a one-yard sneak. Cooper ran in the two-point try for a 14-0 lead.

Later in the second frame, the big plays kept coming for John Marshall-- a 22-yard reception by Travis Kotson was immediately followed by a 28-yard touchdown run by Cooper for a 21-0 advantage with 7:24 'till halftime.

The Monarchs' Tiler Clemons made a big defensive play to end the half, intercepting a Park pass from JM's own 19 yard-line with 10 seconds to go in the second quarter.

John Marshall had more than doubled Wheeling Park's first-half yardage (125 vs. 270), but the roles would be reversed in the second half.

Early in the third, Park senior QB Jay Bordas completed a third-down pass to Michael Neider over the middle, Neider picking up some yards after the catch for what went down as a 50-yard reception. Bordas ran in a touchdown from five yards out to put Park on the board.

The Patriots' next score was spurred on by a fake fourth-down punt which turned into a 33-yard catch from Maxx Taylor to Preston Heatherington. Neider was back in action after the conversion, catching a 26-yard touchdown pass from Bordas. With 3:44 on the clock in the third quarter, Park was down just one score, 21-14 after the extra point from Kallon Tipton.

The Monarchs did not move the ball as easily in the second half as they did the first, but did drive down to the red zone midway through the fourth quarter, electing to try a 27-yard field goal on fourth down. The kick was no good-- Park might have gotten a hand on it-- and though the Patriots looked to throw a counterpunch quickly with a 39-yard run from Neider on their first play back on offense, the home team would later be forced to punt, pinning John Marshall back at their own seven yard-line with seven minutes to play.

Playing the field position game yielded Wheeling Park a possession that started from midfield, but then came perhaps the biggest defensive play of the game, as John Marshall's Nathan Hughes came down with an interception along the sideline, a moment that required deliberation amongst the officials to see if the ball had hit the ground before being reeled in.

"I was proud of the way the guys fought and battled back in the second half," Wheeling Park head coach Chris Daugherty said. "The first half we thought there was a handful of plays, big plays that kind of set up their scores. And we thought we could dial in and play a little bit better defensively. And we did that. We made some plays offensively and got back in the game and came up short a little bit at the end.

"To us it looked like that ball was out, and it wasn’t an interception. But, that’s part of the game and there’s a lot of it that you can’t control. But at the end of the day, credit to John Marshall and Coach Cisar. They made enough plays to get the win and they’ve done a good job."

With under four minutes left in the game, John Marshall first picked up a crucial third-down conversion on a keeper run by Cisar-- a play that knocked the Monarchs' signal-caller out of the game until they were able to assume victory formation-- and later, another big first down came on Cooper's final carry of the game.

Jacob Cisar ended with 127 passing yards and a touchdown, as well as 29 rushing yards with a score. Snyder was his leading receiver, totalling 37 receiving yards and a touchdown catch.

Jay Bordas finished with 172 passing yards with a touchdown through the air and on the ground. Michael Neider led the Patriots with 79 receiving yards along with his score.

The victory moves John Marshall to 7-3 on the season, while Wheeling Park falls to 3-7. Both teams' playoff positioning will be revealed Sunday. Before Friday, John Marshall was the 9-seed in Class AAA, while Wheeling Park was the 13-seed in Class AAAA. The top 16 teams in each class qualify for the postseason.

Wheeling Park still leads in the all-time series, 36-16.

"Offensively at the beginning of the game, great game plan by us coming out, 21-nothing, hit a couple plays we put in, a couple surprises that we put in," Cisar said. "Great throw by Jacob Cisar, great catch down there, a play we just put in this week. Big play by us, but then we let off the gas. Kind of frustrating. But we don’t care how we win, I don’t care if it’s ugly, we don’t care if it’s pretty, a W is a W. I’m happy as can be for the guys. Obviously Dalton Cooper at the end of the game-- they know he’s getting the ball, they gotta stop him. Makes a great bounce on that huge run to finish the game off.

"Jacob Cisar going out, I don’t know if his ankle’s broken or not, it might be. Just guts on his part. And it’s the same thing with our defense. Defensive coordinator [Griffin Yocum] did a great job all week long. LJ Winland, Coach [Joel] Sansone on offense. Our coaches did a great job. Obviously you get two weeks to prepare for this. They prepared two weeks also. That’s when you know you’re in for a challenge, and it was."

John Marshall 21, Wheeling Park 14

John Marsh 7 14 0 0 -- 21

Wheeling P 0 0 14 0 -- 14

JM-Snyder 28 pass from Cisar (kick blocked)

JM-Cisar 1 run (Cooper run)

JM-Cooper 28 run (Hamrick kick)

WP-Bordas 5 run (Tipton kick)

WP-Neider 26 pass from Bordas (Tipton kick)

RUSHING: John Marshall 39-287-2tds (Cooper 31-237-td; Cisar 6-29-td; Sforza 2-21) Wheeling Park 18-72-td (Miller 8-22; Bordas 8-10-td; Neider 1-39; Pilkington 1-1)

PASSING: John Marshall 8-14-127-td (all by Cisar). Wheeling Park 12-27-205-td-2int (Bordas 11-26-td-2int; Taylor 1-1-33).

RECEIVING: John Marshall 8-127-td (Snyder 3-37-td; Cooper 2-21; Clemons 1-31; Kotson 1-22; Skrzyneki 1-16) Wheeling Park 12-205-td (Neider 4-79-td; Neal 3-58; Wetzel 2-19; Heatherington 1-33; Wilson 1-10; Miller 1-6).

FIRST DOWNS: John Marshall 18, Wheeling Park 13

PENALTIES: John Marshall 6-60, Wheeling Park 5-40

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