A packed house settled in to watch Wheeling Central take on St. Clairsville on a beautiful evening at Bishop Schmitt Field on the campus of Wheeling University last Friday night. The Red Devils drew first blood in this one. On a fourth down play, Red Devils running back took the handoff and flew 43 yards down the field to put St. Clairsville up 6-0. Wheeling Central responded right away at the 4:13 mark of the first quarter with an Eli Tucker field goal to make it 6-3. The second quarter saw a combined total of 54 points! It all got started at 10:50 as Burk found the endzone for the second time on the night from 1 yard out to make it 12-3 Red Devils. On Wheeling Central’s next offensive series, quarterback Seth Cover found Braden McWreath behind the St Clairsville secondary and hit him with a 45 yard touchdown strike to make the score 12-10. A little under four minutes later St Clairsville responded as Burk found the endzone again, dancing around defenders and racing 47 yards for the score to make it 19-10, Red Devils. After a Kyle Rankin sack that forced the ball out of the hands of Cover, JR Adams recovered the fumble and a few plays later Brady Schafer hit Cole Thoburn with a 34 yard pop pass to extend the Red Devils lead to 26-10 with 5:36 to go in the second quarter. McWreath continued his stellar night on the first play from scrimmage on Wheeling Central’s next drive. McWreath took the handoff and the Wheeling Central offensive line cleared the path for him to run 75 yards for the touchdown and bring the Maroon Knights deficit to 26-17. However, on the ensuing kickoff, St Clairsville’s Harrison Kazmirski took the ball 70 yards down the field for the kickoff return score and extended the Red Devils lead to 33-17. After a Wheeling Central turnover, Burk found the endzone for a fourth time, this time from 54 yards out to make the score 39-17, St. Clairsville. The Red Devils were not done however. With 31 seconds to go in the half, the Red Devils were in the red zone and Schafer found Gage Wolfe in the endzone to end the half with St Clairsville having a commanding 46-17 lead.
St. Clairsville senior Colt Westlake took over at quarterback for the Red Devils. Sophomore Ollie Muhly took the handoff from Westlake and rumbled in from four yards out to extend the Red Devils lead to 53-17. Muhly struck again with 24 seconds left in the third quarter to make it 60-17 in favor of St. Clairsville. Wheeling Central sophomore, Kade Koroneos, got Wheeling Central back on the board in the fourth quarter with a beautiful 13 yard run, but the Red Devils won the game 60-24.
The Red Devils racked up 377 yards on the ground and six touchdowns. St Clairsville was paced by Burk who carried the ball 13 times for 183 yards and four scores. Muhly added 70 yards and two scores. Westlake carried the ball one time for 53 yards and sophomore quarterback Sam McLean had two carries for 18 yards. Schafer completed 4 passes for 99 yards and two touchdowns. Thoburn led all receivers with 3 receptions for 83 yards and a score. Gage Wolfe had the 10 yard touchdown reception.
Wheeling Central racked up 184 yards on the ground paced by McWreath’s 101 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown. He also hauled in two receptions for 48 yards and a touchdown. Koroneos added three carries for 44 yards and touchdown.
The Maroon Knights will return to Bishop Schmitt Field this Friday Night as they play host to undefeated Midland Trail. The Patriots are coming off of a 24-0 shutout victory over Meadow Bridge and have outscored their opponents 74-32 to open up the season. This will mark the second time Wheeling Central and Midland Trail have met on the gridiron. You have to go back to November of 2008 when Central knocked off Midland Trail in the playoffs 42-20. St. Clairsville returns to Red Devils Stadium to take on Region 15 foe Indian Valley (3-1). Despite being in the same Region this is only the second over matchup between the Braves and Red Devils. Indian Valley won at home in 1996 21-14 over St. Clairsville.
Photo by Kayla Crum
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