Breaking News

Football Xtra

AN XTRA LOOK

Wheeling Park at Brooke WELLSBURG — The Brooke Bruins face a tough challenge to start the season tonight when the Wheeling Park Patriots come to Brooke Memorial Stadium. “They are a quality, conference opponent,” Brooke coach Mac McLean said. “They are a tall task for anyone to start the season against. It’s definitely a tall task for a young team like us, but we are really looking forward to the opportunity. “With the ceremony naming the field after coach (Paul) Billiard, there is going to be a lot of alumni. Being on Thursday night, it is one of the first games of ...

Big Red looks to rewrite history with Youngstown Cardinal Mooney

SALEM — For Big Red to reach a fifth consecutive regional championship game, it must first deal with playoff nemesis Youngstown Cardinal Mooney. The tradition-rich programs will square off in the Division IV, Region 13 semifinals Friday inside Reilly Stadium. The kick, as mandated by ...

Red Riders embrace underdog role

WEIRTON — Finishing the high school football regular season in the bottom half of the top 16 automatically makes a team the underdog. Going on the road to play at a team that is 9-1 with its lone loss by four points makes it not only an underdog role for Weir High this week, but also a hefty ...

Madonna’s incredible turnaround continues

WEIRTON — The last time the Madonna football team had a winning record and made the playoffs was in 2013 when it finished unbeaten and won its second ever state championship. Now, the Blue Dons (8-2) have fashioned an unexpected complete turnaround, and the Madonna community is ...

Crusaders’ 2017 campaign one of their finest in history

STEUBENVILLE — Back in early August, Steve Daley liked what he saw when he looked at his 2017 Catholic Central football Crusaders. At the time, Daley just wished he saw a few more players wearing the Royal Blue and Gold. The numbers, obviously, didn’t change and Central opened its season ...

Young Bruins have a lot of work to do in the offseason

WELLSBURG — The Brooke Bruins wrapped up the 2017 season with a 3-7 record and had most of its success toward the end of the campaign, finishing with wins in two of the final three games of the season. Brooke began the year with three straight losses, starting with a 24-6 loss to playoff bound Wheeling Park in a Thursday night opener at Wheeling Jesuit University. All three of the Bruins opening losses came to teams that qualified for the postseason, as they fell 34-15 at home to University and on the road, 35-6, to Morgantown. The first win for coach Mac McLean’s squad came ...