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WHEELING -- A rivalry going all the way back to 1976 is renewed on Friday as the Wheeling Park Patriots (4-2) host the Brooke Bruins (5-3) in a match with major West Virginia playoff implications.
Both the Patriots and Bruins enter Wheeling Island Stadium on two-game win streaks, Wheeling Park having bested Morgantown and St. Clairsville in two tight contests, while Brooke topped Oak Glen and John Marshall, outscoring their opponents 96-29 in the pair of games combined.
Though they landed decisive wins against the Golden Bears and Monarchs, Brooke is expecting stiff resistance when making the trip down from Wellsburg on Friday.
"You trade two tapes every week, and I've got two tapes from Wheeling Park," Brooke head coach Mac McLean said. "In one of them, they beat the No. 1 team in triple-A West Virginia and in the other they beat my brother's team, one of the best programs in the valley and a perennial playoff contender in Ohio. What I can tell you is that Wheeling Park is a very good football team."
"They've got a weapon at quarterback, they've got a young running back who's becoming one of the best in the valley, and they've got multiple receivers who I think anybody in the valley would love to have on their roster."
Each of those weapons were on display in Park's most recent win against St. Clairsville, coached by McLean's brother Brett. Patriots quarterback Aiden Davis threw for 184 yards and three touchdowns, while sophomore runningback Amare Johnson ran for 115.
Park's pair of senior receivers, Keohn Stephens Jr. and Mykel Davis continued to be a dynamic duo along either boundary, Stephens catching three balls for 95 yards and a touchdown, while Davis went for 42 yards including a 33-yard fourth-quarter touchdown.
"You look at Keohn, he's been a three-year starter, Mykel probably would've been if he hadn't hurt his ankle his sophomore year," Wheeling Park head coach Chris Daugherty said. "They've played a lot of football, so you're starting to see that football intelligence, that seasoned senior play come out in them.
"In their youth, players can hit the panic button. If they don't get the ball thrown to them early, you could see a panic set in, but you don't see that with those two. They know to stay the course, keep working, and things are going to come. Both guys made huge plays in the game Friday, and we're going to need that going forward, for those guys to play like seasoned veterans."
The foursome makes for a heads-I-win, tails-you-lose situation for opponents, according to McLean, who hopes to keep his defense out of an unenviable situation as much as possible.
"To beat Park, somebody's going to have to figure out how to slow down the Johnson kid out of the backfield, but if you commit too much to the run game they've got Davis at receiver and a couple other receivers who can score on any play," McLean said. "You've got to have a balancing act.
"The best thing we can do to slow their offense down is keep it on the sideline and win the possession battle, limit the time they're out there."
The Bruins' own offense, which they hope can work methodically to keep Park's own skillful scorers sidelined, erupted for 49 points last week against John Marshall, led by sophomore quarterback Ty Sperringer, who threw for five touchdowns passes in his second start filling in for brother Braelyn, a senior.
McLean said Braelyn came back to practice on Wednesday and is a game-time decision.
"It's an interesting situation to be in with his brother going and playing as well as he has the last two weeks, but also knowing that when he's healthy, Braylyn's one of the best ones around," McLean said. "It's going to be a gut-wrenching decision, but it's going to be one that I'll have to make. I'm not comfortable saying which one it's going to be yet."
The uncertainty has Park on their toes.
"I think this is one of the better Brooke football teams I've seen in awhile," Daugherty said. "You can see they're playing with confidence, they look different on film. Both quarterbacks are servicing the team well. They're a little bit different in how they do things, even though they live in the same house and they're brothers. No matter which brother plays we're going to have our hands full defensively."
"We've got to get ready for both QB's."
While Ty's five touchdown day against John Marshall drew headlines, McLean says it was establishing a running game which enabled their offense to unload.
"One thing that's happened in the last game is we finally established a running game," McLean said. "I know Ty threw for five touchdowns the other night, but he only had 172 yards, and we ran the ball well. Ty ran the ball well, our running backs ran the ball well, our offensive line opened up lanes.
"That's the thing I've been happiest with the last couple weeks, we have shown the ability to run the ball and we're not having to run the ball 32 times a game. With the forecast Friday, if it gets as bad as they say it's going to get, I don't know how much throwing is going to be a factor so the run game is going to be really important."
Ty Sperringer spearheaded the rushing attack against the Monarchs as well, rushing for 161 yards.
Friday's stakes are heightened by the tradition surrounding the two teams, and the hopes of both squads of making the postseason. In a 16-team Class-AAA playoff field, Wheeling Park sits at No. 15, and Brooke at No. 18.
"At the end of this game, probably one of us is going to be sitting in really good position to make the playoffs and the other team is going to have to rely on a good bit of help," McLean said. "There's a ton on the line Friday night."
"This is Brooke-Park," Daugherty said. "This is a rivalry game for us, this has always been a big game for us going all the way back to 1976. This has always been an important week for Wheeling Park. Brooke's going to be ready to play ball, so we've got to be ready to play ball."