You know us at Ohio Valley Athletics, we love to follow the local talent and see where some of our high school heroes play at the next level. We will continue to do this when we talk about West Liberty’s spring football game that will happen tomorrow, Saturday April 22nd at 1:00 pm.
It has been a pleasure seeing some of these local young men play on Friday nights under the lights or in some cases Saturday mornings. I am sure many of you as well as us have fond memories of these guys making big play after big play. It would be nice if you had the chance to go out and support these guys as they continue their football career.
West Liberty even has an outstanding local guy on staff. Johnny Bonar is an assistant coach with the Hilltoppers. This former West Liberty and John Marshall standout returns for his sixth season at his alma mater. A four-year letterman and three-year starter from 2005-2008, Bonar was one of WLU’s most reliable wideouts during his time on the team. Over his career Bonar has caught 89 passes for 1,445 yards and 5 touchdowns. Before joining the Hilltopper’s staff Bonar helps coach Bishop Donahue for five seasons. There he was selected as a member of the 2015 Rudy Mumley OVAC All-Valley coaching staff.
As for the current crop of local players we have complied a list below and tried to find as much information on them as possible:
3 Eddie Mason – Parkersburg, W.Va. Parkersburg
2020-21 Season: Appeared in one game…Made a catch for 11 yards and returned a kick for 12 yards against Notre Dame (Ohio). All-Conference WR/KR for Parkersburg (W.Va.) HS…Racked up more than 1,000 all-purpose yards as a senior
4 Alex Dunlevy – Wheeling, W.Va. Wheeling Park W.Va. State
Signed with West Virginia State out of high school but did not see game action…Record-setting 1st-team All-West Virginia Class AAA quarterback at Wheeling Park HS; Threw for 2,808 yards and 30 TDs while running for 400 yards and 7 more scores as a senior.
6 DaJuan Jones – Steubenville, Ohio Steubenville
2022 Season: 9 tackles
2021 Season: Redshirted. 2-time 1st-team All-City League selection at Taylor Allderdice HS in Pittsburgh
6 Caleb Ratcliffe – Wheeling, W.Va. Wheeling Central
8 Cameron Rice – Morgantown, W.Va. Morgantown West Virginia
2022 Season: 31 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery
11 Kaden Rice – Morgantown, W.Va. Morgantown
2022 Season: 2 kick returns for 27 yards,
2021 Season: Converted to wide receiver during spring drills…Played in 6 games on defense and special teams during Fall 2021…Charted with 5 tackles…Returned two kicks for eight yards each.
2020-21 Season: Played in two of the team’s four games…Recorded two tackles…Intercepted Glenville State and returned it 24 yards…Broke up two passes in the GSU game.
2019 Season: Redshirted.
36 Brandon Kinney – Steubenville, Ohio Steubenville
2-time All-District and 2nd-team All-Ohio linebacker at Steubenville (Ohio) HS.
37 David Fox – Wheeling, W.Va. Wheeling Park
40 Matt Curry – Parkersburg, W.Va. Parkersburg
2022 Season: 53 punts for 1869 yards; 35.3 average, 5 50+ yard punts
2021 Season: Redshirted in Fall 2021
2020-21 Season: Accepted NCAA eligibility waiver…Made one punt and belted it 41 yards against Notre Dame (Ohio).
Prior to West Liberty: All-West Virginia Class AAA punter at Parkersburg HS averaged 36.7 yards per punt as a senior with a long of 62 yards…8 punts of 50+ yards, 9 downed inside the 20
52 Dylan Conley – Chester, W.Va. Oak Glen
53 Gage Fiore – Parkersburg, W.Va Parkersburg
2022 Season: 6 tackles
Three-year two-way starter for the Parkersburg Big Red football team…Two-time honorable mention all-state…First team All-MSAC on defense in 2019…MSAC second team all-defense in 2018…Played in the Blue-Grey All-America game in Orlando, Fla….Spent a year at West Virginia University at Parkersburg.
55 Ryan Creech – Parkersburg, W.Va. Parkersburg
2021 Season: Started all 11 games on WLU offensive line.
2020-21 Season: Made a start at Alderson Broaddus.
Prior to West Liberty: Consensus West Virginia Class AAA All-State lineman in back-to-back seasons…Played in Blue-Grey All-American Bowl All-Star Game in Tampa, Fla.
59 McKinley Whipkey – Cameron, W.Va. McGuffey
2021 Season: MEC Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll…Redshirted.
Prior to West Liberty: All-Conference RB/LB standout was 1,000-yard rusher at McGuffey (Pa.) HS.
78 Curtis Hayes – Parkersburg, W.Va. Parkersburg
1st-team All-MSAC selection and three-year starter at Parkersburg (W.Va.) HS.
87 Jacob Stewart – Wheeling, W.Va. Wheeling Park
West Liberty does also have some other incoming freshman that have signed. We apologize for the lack of photos and numbers for these players, but we are very excited to see them in the future and wanted to give them a lot of credit, because singing at West Liberty is a heck of an accomplishment.
Ivan Buggs
Cornerback • 6’3″ • 180 lbs
Steubenville, OH • Steubenville
- Honorable Mention All-State
- First Team All-OVAC
- Won regional championship senior season earning a spot in the state semifinals.
Logan McCartney
Offensive Line • 6’4″ • 275 lbs
Clarksburg, WV • Robert C Byrd
- First Team All-Harrison County
- Honorable Mention Top-5 AA/A Offensive Linemen in WV
- 3.5 Cumulative GPA at Robert C Byrd HS
- Dr. P.E. Kercheval award recipient at Mountaineer Boys State
- Intended Major: Criminal Justice
Spenser Ostovich
Linebacker • 6’0″ • 230 lbs
Steubenville, OH • Steubenville
- Honorable Mention All-State
- First Team All-OVAC
- Won regional championship senior season earning a spot in the state semifinals.
- WTOV9 Defensive Block of Granite Winner
- Posted a 4.4 GPA at Steubenville HS
- Academic All-Ohio
- Intended Major: Business
Joey Ramsey
Tight End • 6’3″ • 210 lbs
St. Marys, WV • St. Marys
- Second Team All-State
- First Team All-Conference with 9 TD’s senior season
West Liberty’s 2023 schedule can be found here.
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