Football Game Preview: Wheeling Park Patriots vs. Butler Golden Tornado

Two dominant backs in Brennan Wack and Mark Klemz are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Wheeling Park Patriots will face off against the Butler Golden Tornado at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

Wheeling Park made up a huge gap compared to their last game against Fairmont Senior, but they still couldn't quite topple them. The Patriots fell just short of the Polar Bears by a score of 45-42 on Friday. While the Patriots had to settle for second, they closed the game well in the third quarter, where they outscored the Polar Bears 14-7.

The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Jay Bordas, who threw for 307 yards and three touchdowns, and also punched in one TD on the ground. Owen Dobrzynski-Hines was Bordas' top target, picking up 104 receiving yards and a pair of scores.

Meanwhile, Butler won against University last Friday with 35 points and they decided to stick to that point total again on Friday. The Golden Tornado breezed past Taylor Allderdice to the tune of 35-8. The matchup was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 27-0.

Wheeling Park better keep an eye on Deacon Simko. He was instrumental in Butler's win, picking up 55 receiving yards and one touchdown, while also rushing for 33 yards.

The victory was the third in a row for Butler, bringing their record up to 6-2. Those wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 38.0 points over those games. As for Wheeling Park, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 4-3.

Everything came up roses for Wheeling Park against Butler when the teams last played back in October of 2024, as the squad secured a 47-20 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Patriots since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.