Weir looks to host playoff game, must beat Brooke for possibility
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WELLSBURG -- Strange things happen in rivalries, and this year's renewal between Weir High and Brooke could be another case.
It is a big game for both schools. Not only because of the rivalry, but it is a must-win for the Red Riders if they want a chance for home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. It is senior night for the Bruins, who want to break their eight-game losing streak.
With the thrilling come-from-behind 29-28 win over East Liverpool last week, Tony Filberto's crew moved up to ninth in the Class AA state rankings, just one spot away from that coveted home field playoff game. Even with a loss, the Riders likely would be in the field of 16 playoff teams but undoubtedly would tumble in the rankings to a position where they have to travel to play one of the top AA teams in the state.
"We have calculated that we could end up anywhere between seventh and 11th and play as many as 10 different teams before this is finally decided," said Filberto, whose club is 7-2. "With the other teams in the state playing each other over the next two weeks, a lot of things can happen.
"We just have to take care of business this week, take the next week off to let our kids heal and refresh for the playoffs."
Taking care of business means going to the home of the Bruins to play a team that is hungry for a win after playing a brutal AAA schedule with a lot of traveling around the state of West Virginia.
"It's been a rough year right out of the gate, but the positive thing is we've shown a little sign of life the past two weeks," Bruin coach Mac McLean. "Last Friday we played three really good quarters of football, but the problem is in the first quarter we spotted Buckhannon-Upshur (3-5) a 21-point lead.
"Even with the way this season has gone, these kids are eager to play, work hard in practice and aren't down on themselves."
The Bruins lost to the Buccaneers, 27-14, and the week before they lost to John Marshall (5-3) by a score of 42-14.
"Weir High will be a big challenge for us. That's for sure," said McLean, who said a large part of the Bruin focus this week will be on Red Rider junior quarterback Sebastian Spencer, who had a monster game last week. "I don't think it was much of a secret that Weirton was going to be one of the top local teams this fall, and they don't disappoint on film.
"They have a couple of home run hitters. Spencer, who is playing quarterback for them right now, is capable of going 80 yards on anybody. I can assure you we're like a lot of high school teams. We don't have anybody with that kind of speed. So, job No. 1 is corralling him and trying to avoid that home run, which has been our Achilles' heel all season. The term speed kills comes to mind when you see him.
"But then, Weir has probably one of the top two receivers in the OVAC in Reed Reitter. He's a big, physical receiver with a lot of talent. They're pretty good all around. They are a talented football team that's playing like a lot of people expected them to play this fall."
Spencer's big game included a scoring trifecta. He scored two touchdowns from scrimmage and a third on a 75-yard punt return. His rushing scores came on runs of 42 and 80 yards, and he finished with 152 yards on 14 carries.
"The last couple of weeks Brooke has thrown the football," Filberto said. "I think Brooke passed the ball 42 times last week, and that's a lot of throwing in a high school football game. So, we're going to have to work on our pass rush and coverages. Gage Yost is a big kid who can throw it all over the place. He has good receivers. He likes to throw to Aleksey Rasz and Logan Williams. We have to defend that.
"When they are on defense, they will give us that 3-3 stack, which we have seen about four times already this year. Now that defense has given us a little bit of trouble a couple of times. We have to take care of ourselves. You can't control your opponent -- you can only control what you do."
Yost, a senior, completed 17 of 42 passes last week for 215 yards and one interception. He ran for two scores in the game. Buckhannon-Upshur had 300 yards of total offense in the game, including 257 yards rushing.
Filberto said he talked to his club this week about not taking the Bruins lightly because of their record.
"You know, we went down there two years ago in a similar situation," he said. "They had won a couple of football games that year, and we had won seven. They beat us on the last play of the game when Chris Yachini grabbed a hitch pass, dodged a couple of tacklers and raced 93 yards to give the Bruins a 12-7 win. So, we're not going to let that happen again."
McLean remembers the year before that when there was about 1:35 left in the 2016 game, and Brooke end Nate Green caught a touchdown pass to seal a 23-14 victory.
He also said he has coached for a long time, but he'll never forget last year, when he found out during pregame warmups that he didn't have a quarterback on the roster. Yost was out the whole second half of the season with knee surgery, and Logan Williams had a pinched nerve in his shoulder just before game time.
There have been a lot of moments like that since the teams began to play each other in the 1969 season.
Yost has completed 53 of 133 passes this year for 756 yards and five touchdowns with seven interceptions.
Spencer's totals are similar. He has been good on 55 of 113 aerials for 600 yards, four touchdowns and six interceptions.
In the receiving department, Williams has 13 catches for 303 yards and four touchdowns, while Rasz snagged 10 passes for 118 yards and a score. Senior Jake McCoy leads the Red Rider receivers with 28 catches and 320 yards with a touchdown. Reitter, who has missed a couple of games with illness and injuries, has 15 receptions for 185 yards and a touchdown.
Red Rider senior Donavan Kirby ranks second among all area running backs, with 1,098 yards gained and 20 touchdowns. The leading rusher for the Bruins is junior Max Camilletti, with 270 yards on 74 carries and one score.