HEADED ON THE ROAD — The Catholic Central football team heads south for a big game when they take on Wheeling Central on the road Friday night. - Andrew Grimm

WHEELING — For the first time in five years, Steubenville Catholic Central and Wheeling Central Catholic will meet on the football field Friday night.

The 6-1 Crusaders head south to Wheeling to challenge the 4-2 Maroon Knights in the first meeting between the programs since 2019.

“I think when you look at the last 20-25 years, they have to be the school everyone around the Ohio Valley looks up to in terms of small school football as far as consistency goes,” Crusaders head coach Eric Meek said. “It’s going to be a good measuring stick to see where we’re at going up against a program like theirs.

“It’s a very important test for us because I feel like we’re a much better team than we were back in August. We need to take another step forward this week. This is going to be the steepest challenge we’ve had to date against a very good football team.

“I told the kids (Monday) in our meeting that we need to embrace the challenge and let’s not shy away from it. Let’s go have fun and play the best we possibly can.”

While the programs haven’t played in the last few years, Meek and Knights coach Mike Young, himself a hall of famer, are friends and quite familiar with one another.

“Mike is a longtime good friend and I have a lot of respect for him and the program he runs,” Meek said. “He has been there a long time and the last time I coached against him I was at Weir in 2006, so it’s been quite a long time, but we’ve maintained an excellent friendship over the years and he’s had a veteran staff for a long time and they do things the right way.”

Along with the respect between the coaches is respect between the programs, who played every year from 2014-19 and have played 13 times in the last two decades.

“There’s a lot of mutual respect,” Young said. “Coach Meek is a good family man and a good coach. The schools are both faith-based and have a lot of respect for each other. Over the years there have been some good battles, some games that have gone down to the last play. We haven’t played them in a few years but I expect that same type of game and both teams to play very hard.”

The Knights are currently riding a three-game winning streak and have moved up to the No. 9 spot in the West Virginia Class AA rankings.

They are coming off wins over Midland Trail, Perry Traditional and Ron Brown Prep in consecutive weeks.

Leading the way for Wheeling Central is Isaac Martin with 614 rushing yards and an average of 8.1 yards per carry and 10 touchdowns. Nico Kusic has thrown for 549 yards and eight scores without an interception and ran for another 256 yards and three more end zone trips. He has a quarterback rating of 148.1.

Max Olejasz has 12 catches for 294 yards and five scores, while Kade Koroneos has 11 grabs for 224 and two scores.

The Knights average 235 rushing yards and 137 passing yards per game, running the ball an average of 70 percent of the time.

“Their offense is very explosive, their quarterback can run and throw the ball, they have good receivers and they have some linemen that come down the line fast,” Meek said. “They’re an outstanding football team. It’s going to be important to see how we can do against a team of this caliber.

“We need to play physical football and hopefully we’re getting on the bus to come home with a win.”

The Crusaders, meanwhile, are even more run-heavy. They run the ball on more than 82 percent of their snaps for average of 221 yards per game.

Leading that charge is Jimmy Hernon, who has 805 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground averaging 115 yards per game and 7.4 yards per carry. He’s also caught a touchdown. Tommy Pergi provides a second option rushing for 62.7 yards per game and 6.3 yards per carry, finding the end zone four times. He’s also the Crusaders’ leading receiver with nine catches for 205 yards and two more touchdowns.

The Crusaders are currently No. 2 in the Division VII, Region 27 playoff computer rating standings and this week moved up to No. 9 in the Ohio Associated Press Division VII poll.

After a 1-1 start, they’ve won five-straight. They’ve outscored their last two opponents, Madonna and Oak Glen, 83-7.

“They’re well-coached,” Young said of the Crusaders. “I have known coach Meek for years and I have a lot of respect for him and the job he’s done every place he’s been. I’m glad we’re playing another local team. I think it’s going to be a very good high school football game between two similar schools with similar records.

“They’ve got a nice attack, they run the ball really well, they play solid defense and they do not turn the ball over. We’ve got to be ready to play good football for four quarters on Friday night.”

The Crusaders running game, in particular, stands out.

“It tells you they’re a physical team and they’re disciplined in terms of being patient and in terms of executing their offense,” Young said. “It’s going to take four quarters of good, physical football.”

The Maroon Knights won the last two meetings in 2019 and 2018, while the Crusaders were victorious in 2017. Wheeling Central has won eight of the previous 13 meetings.