Preview: Parkersburg South Patriots vs. Wheeling Park Patriots
Two dominant backs in Gage Wright and Amare Johnson are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Parkersburg South Patriots will head out on the road to face off against the Wheeling Park Patriots at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the pair will really light up the scoreboard.
Parkersburg South put the finishing touches on their fifth blowout victory of the season on Friday. They claimed a resounding 72-7 win over Greenbrier East at home. Parkersburg South pushed the score to 69-7 by the end of the third, a deficit Greenbrier East had no chance of recovering from.
Parkersburg South relied on the efforts of Wright, who rushed for 122 yards and two touchdowns on only six carries, and Turner Garretson, who threw for 350 yards and four touchdowns while completing 73.9% of his passes. Wright hasn't dropped below 100 rushing yards for eight straight games. Eli Bartley also helped out with an impressive 99 receiving yards.
Meanwhile, Wheeling Park entered their tilt with Brooke with two consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with three. Wheeling Park simply couldn't be stopped on Friday as they easily beat Brooke 61-6 at home. With Wheeling Park ahead 40-0 at the half, the contest was all but over already.
Aiden Davis was his usual excellent self, throwing for 343 yards and seven touchdowns while picking up 16.3 yards per attempt, and also punching in a touchdown on the ground. The team also got some help courtesy of Keohn Stephens Jr, who picked up 160 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
Parkersburg South's win was their fifth straight at home (dating back to last season), bumping their overall record up to 6-2. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 65.4 points per game. As for Wheeling Park, their win bumped their record up to 5-2.
We should be in store for an exciting game Friday as Parkersburg South and Wheeling Park have no problem gaining yardage. Parkersburg South has been on an offensive roll this season, having averaged 518.9 total yards per game. However, it's not like Wheeling Park struggles in that department as they've been averaging 366.9 per game. With a pair of commanding offenses duking it out, the defenses are going to have their work cut out for them.
Parkersburg South didn't have too much breathing room in their match against Wheeling Park in their previous meeting back in October of 2022, but they still walked away with a 32-27 victory. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Wheeling Park's Brett Phillips, who rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns on only nine carries, and also threw for 322 yards and two touchdowns. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be that much easier for Parkersburg South to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
