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WELLSBURG -- The Brooke football team got off to a 3-0 start this season, however, the last three weeks have not been kind to the Bruins as they have lost their last three games. Brooke will try to get back on the winning side of things when it takes on Oak Glen this week.
The Bruins and Golden Bears will meet at 7:30 p.m. Friday night on Senior Night on Paul "Bud" Billiard Field inside Brooke Memorial Stadium.
Both teams are entering this week's matchup coming off a loss.
Brooke is coming off of a 49-14 loss last Friday night at Bridgeport.
"They are built for that," Brooke (3-3) head coach Mac McLean said. "They are made for that. When they get their offense going like that, they are very difficult to stop as we proved Friday night."
Brooke has also lost to North Marion and Watkins Memorial.
"A little bit of wind has been taken out of our sails," McLean said. "We started out 3-0, but the teams that have beaten us our 20-4. We are stressing to the kids that we didn't lose to just anybody. We lost to three teams who are going to be in the playoffs.
"North Marion was the No. 1 in team in Class AA. Watkins Memorial had given up 32 points in six games. That shows how good their defense is.
"We are a little disappointed because we started 3-0, but we are not mailing it in. We now go into the Ohio Valley part of our schedule with Oak Glen, Wheeling Park, John Marshall and Weir. These are the games you look forward to. These are the games we are going to try and build excitement off of."
Oak Glen comes to town off of a 44-8 loss to Robert C. Byrd last week at home. A big second quarter propelled the Eagles to the win against the Golden Bears.
"I didn't think we played bad in the first quarter," Oak Glen (1-5) head coach Doug Taylor said. "We scored early in the second quarter, and we got the 2-point conversion to make it 12-8, and then they hit a big pass play on us.
"We just could not match their physicality. The size difference and their physicality forced us to gamble. Their quarterback is an exceptional runner, and he was able to get outside. We had to go to our base defense.
"Offensively, we moved the ball, but we got behind the sticks. We had some penalties. We don't have the skill or the offense to be able to come back from getting behind the sticks."
Brooke has faced some stiff competition this season.
"Brooke's schedule is exceptionally tough," Taylor said. "They have played Watkins Memorial and Bridgeport. They have played a real tough schedule.
"They are an experienced football team. They have real good skill position players. What concerns me is they have lost three in a row, so they are going to be hungry for a win.
"It's their Senior Night, so they are going to be extremely motivated to win this week."
The Golden Bears rely on their ground game to move the football and to score points.
"Yeah, and they are not bad at it," McLean said. "The good thing is we have done a pretty good job stopping the run. With the exception of Morgantown, no one has really stopped Bridgeport's running game. Oak Glen is going to play to our strength. We have done a pretty decent job of stopping the run."
The Bruins scored 76 points through the first two weeks of the season.
"They give you a lot to prepare for," Taylor said. "They can get under center and run it north and south. They can spread you out. They have a good quarterback. He's a three-year starter. They have a good running game. They have got good receivers.
"We are going to have to play them straight up. We might have to gamble, but if you gamble you run the risk of giving up a big play.
"They have a lot of depth. We are going to have to play ironman football. They are a good football team."
Oak Glen has given up a lot of points this season, but the Golden Bears have also played stiff competition.
"Defensively, they are sound," McLean said. "They play different fronts. They like to walk their linebackers up. They are well coached. Coach Taylor is doing a great job up there.
"It is an Ohio Valley game. You can't overlook anybody. The key is playing with emotion. If you let an underdog play with emotion and get the momentum, you are going to be in trouble in a game where on paper you shouldn't be in trouble."
The Bruins have struggled to score in recent weeks as the Green-and-Gold has tallied 14 points in three out of their last four games. They scored just six points in a loss to North Marion.
"We are going to have to score points," McLean said. "Offensively, we have been kind of anemic. That is compounded by Braelyn Sperringer getting injured against Bridgeport. He's out this week. His season is not over, but it is going to be week to week thing.
"His brother Ty is going to step in and play quarterback. We are going to have to change things around. Ty is more of a runner out of the Wildcat. He's very good at it, but we are in the position where we don't want to get him hurt.
"We are going to be doing some different things. We are going to be some things we have done in the past. That is one of the good things about having so many seniors. We have run different offenses, and it just a matter of them dusting it off and remembering it."
Defensively, the Bruins only allowed 16 points in the first three weeks of the season, but the boys from Brooke County have allowed 35, 32 and 49 the last three weeks.
"They give you a couple of looks," Taylor said. "They will give you an even front. They will give you an odd front. It just depends.
"We are trying to figure out why they switch fronts. Is it based on what the offense is doing?
"Even when they bring in an extra defensive back, it does not hurt their ability to stop the run game. They get downhill. They are good tacklers.
"Their ends are big. They are hard to move. Their inside linebackers are the best we have seen. Then, you have the nose guard or the two defensive tackles up front. They are tough."
Brooke's final three regular season games are all on the road.
"It is a strange to be having Senior Night so early," McLean said. "We got our five in. It is just the way the deck was shuffled after Marietta and Preston dropped us in the offseason."
The Golden Bears cannot afford penalties or lose yardage on the early downs.
"For us, it is important that we do not get behind the sticks," Taylor said. "We do not have the skill or the offense to be able to overcome that. We just have to grind it out two or three yards at a time, and hopefully that will leave us in third-and-short or fourth-and-short.
"Defensively, we cannot give up the big play. There were teams where we had them in third-and-four or third-and-five, and we just could not get off the field. We are going to have to be able to get off the field and force them to punt."
The Bruins defeated the Golden Bears, 45-0, last season on the road up at the Bears' Den.
"We had a very good night," McLean said. "I'm sure Coach Taylor is reminding his kids about that. It's an Ohio Valley game. I'm expecting it to be a challenge. I'm expecting to be a good game."
Brooke enters the game in the need of a win as the Bruins are currently in 19th place in the West Virginia Class AAA rankings.