Photo by Scott McCloskey
Wheeling Park’s Jacob Stewart and the Patriots are ready for Friday’s game against Linsly.

WHEELING — With all the uncertainty in high school football this season, all the schedule changes and all the rules and regulations that have been brought upon us by the current situation in the world, a pair of schools located just miles apart in Ohio County have found themselves ready to line up across from each other on the field of play for the very first time.

While Linsly and Wheeling Park had both originally been slated to play different foes this week the Covid pandemic has caused a schedule change that will have the Cadets and Patriots battling it out Friday night at 7 p.m. on the turf at Wheeling Island Stadium. Linsly had been scheduled to play at Dover and Wheeling Park was slated to host Steubenville.

“Originally we thought we were playing Steubenville this week, then it went to Logan and that didn’t work and finally we ended up with Linsly, and that all happened in a 24-hour period,” Park head Coach Chris Daugherty mentioned.”

While it will be the first meeting between the two schools in varsity football, they have scrimmaged once and it is something that both head coaches, B.J. Depew and Daugherty, have talked about in the past.

“We have scrimmaged and played junior varsity and freshman football, but this will be the first time for varsity,” Depew said. “Actually, we have talked about this the last couple of years, but we haven’t been able to match open weeks. I believe this is something that will be great for the city of Wheeling and I know the kids will be excited because most of them know each other.

“The only shame in the whole thing is that everyone who wants to see it won’t be able to get in. There is not a doubt in my mind we could pack that stadium Friday night, but at least with the local media and the coverage it will get people will be able to see it that way. And who knows if this all goes well maybe there will be a future in this. I can tell you personally that I would be happy to do it again in the future.”

The Cadets have been no strangers to playing bigger schools, having played both Steubenville and Morgantown multiple times over the last few years. Linsly is coming off an impressive 42-7 victory last week at Weir in which Depew’s team once again showed a balanced offense in racking up 439 total yards.

“I feel that has been the case for us so far this season,” Depew added. “We have been very balanced, and our goal has been to make the other team defend the entire field. We have a good group of weapons and our kids are so unselfish, which I believe makes us even more dangerous on offense.”

On the other side, Daugherty’s Patriots have a bevy of weapons as well, most of which were on full display during last week’s 42-21 dismantling of Huntington on the road. Wheeling Park collected 326 total yards on offense and also forced four turnovers, two interceptions and two fumbles, while allowing just 207 yards.

“Watching Huntington warm up last week they looked very good and we just thought “wow“,” Daugherty admitted. “But we were able to execute and jump on them early and things kind of snowballed down hill for them from there. But we did make some mistakes to let them back in it a little bit and we need to clean that stuff up. I honestly think our own mistakes are the only thing holding us back right now.

“We thought in the preseason that we had some toys we could play with this year and it is very nice to have multiple kids that you can get the football in their hands and know they can make plays. When that happens, the defense has some decisions to make and you hope it works out for you.”

Senior Beau Heller has taken over under center this year for the Patriots and is coming off a 16 of 26 performance for 181 yards and three touchdowns last week. All three of those touchdown passes came in the second quarter and were to speedy classmate Shaheed Jackson, who finished with four grabs for 71 yards.

Senior do-it-all Stevie Mitchell has become the Park’s top threat at running back and piled up 139 yards on 19 carries with two scores last week while Carson Namack also caught six passes for 62 yards.

“Obviously this game was unexpected, so we are still looking at film, but what we know they have an excellent program and from what we have seen so far they have a ton of speed with plenty of good athletes,” Depew said. “They like to spread it out and make you defend the entire field and we know they will be a handful for us.

“But we will be ready and very excited for the challenge. With the teams we already play lining up against Wheeling Park isn’t as big as shock as it might be otherwise, but it doesn’t make it any less exciting. Our kids embrace these types of games and I know it ignites them and they thrive on it.”

Linsly’s offense is led by returning senior quarterback Hunter Kelley, who is a double threat with his arm and legs. Kelley completed 10 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns last week and also had five carries for 66 yards, including a 62-yard touchdown scamper. His main targets in the passing attack are Dylan Hill, who had four catches for 109 yards against Red Riders, and junior Felix Reitter, who had a 31-yard scoring grab.

Senior Spencer Knight rushed for 107 yards and a score on nine totes a week ago while classmate Zachai Simmons scored a pair of touchdowns on the ground as the Cadets ran for 244 yards.

“They are as good as they normally are,” Daughtery added. “They are big up front on both the offensive and defensive sides and they have good athletes. This is going to be another strong test for us.

“I really wasn’t sure if we had ever played them or not, but after seeing some tweets this week I guess we haven’t. In that regard it’s kind of a neat thing to line up against them. And while you never say never, I will always look to exhaust all of my options against Class AAA schools as much as possible. This game has come around mainly due to the Covid and when it is over we will probably go back to playing the teams we normally do.”

Both teams will enter with 2-1 records with Linsly having dropped a 35-21 decision at Steubenville while Wheeling Park fell in a 26-21 heartbreaker to open the season against St. Clairsville.