WHEELING — Steven Mitchell — all 5-foot-6 and 160 pounds of him — is admittedly a third wheel in a two-man running back rotation for Wheeling Park.
“Yeah, I don’t get in a lot,” Mitchell said after the Patriots knocked off Morgantown High 31-0 on Friday, at Wheeling Island Stadium. “When I do get in, I’ve got to show the coaches what I can do.”
Mitchell did that and then some, as he rushed for 60 yards and a score and then possibly pulled off one of the plays of the season during a 36-yard touchdown reception late in the second quarter.
Already holding a 10-0 lead against a Mohigans team dealing with key injuries in their secondary, Mitchell hauled in a screen pass on third-and-long and began to race his way up the right side of the field.
It should have been a modest gain and a field goal attempt for the Patriots (5-1). Instead, Mitchell spun his body on top of the Morgantown High defender, put his hand down on the turf and somehow bounced back up without his body hitting the ground. MHS players thought the play was over, but no whistles were blown and Mitchell kept running for a 17-0 halftime lead.
“I didn’t know if I was down or what,” he admitted after the game. “I just kind of put my hand down and kept going.”
“The funny thing is he does that all the time in practice,” Wheeling Park head coach Chris Daugherty said. “He’s a wrestler, so he has that good balance. He’s like a cat. It’s tough to get him down.”
It was one of Mitchell’s best games this season. He plays behind both Rapheal Bradley and Kenya Robinson, but all three combined for 140 tough yards and two scores against the Mohigans (3-4).
“It was one of those plays that we didn’t play to the whistle,” Morgantown head coach Matt Lacy said. “It’s one of those teachable moments that you have with your team. It sucks that we gave up a touchdown there, but the kid did make a heck of a play.”
The rest of the game was about the Patriots’ defense. One week after allowing 57 points in a last-second loss against Parkersburg, Wheeling Park stepped up and made the right plays, including a blocked punt, holding MHS to just 13 rushing yards on 14 carries in the first half and then holding MHS to three yards passing in the second half on six completions. The Mohigans also came away empty on two field-goal attempts, one going wide right from 23-yards out and the other bouncing off the left upright on a 34-yard attempt.
“They came out and schemed us differently than what they showed the last two weeks,” Lacy said. “But, we still have to block and we still have to make adjustments. We still haven’t been able to put it all together offensively. We’re missing some guys up front and we’ve had some injuries, but it’s the next-man-up. We still have to find a way to move the ball.”
The Mohigans were hit with another injury, as starting receiver/safety Jestohn Moore re-aggravated a previous injury, Lacy said, and was in street clothes during the second half.
Without him, Wheeling Park quarterback Alex Dunlevy threw for 198 yards and two touchdowns. He also connected with Xavier Morris for a 23-yard score in the fourth quarter to give the Patriots a 24-0 advantage. Devaughn McWhorter caught seven passes for 85 yards. Morris finished with 66 yards on three grabs and the TD.
MHS quarterback Cam Rice threw for 99 yards, but was 5-of-13 in the second half for minus-1 yard. Jace Whetsell led the Mohigans with 42 yards rushing.
“I really don’t think the 31 points was indicative of how our defense played,” Lacy said. “We were in this game and then they hit us late with a couple of scores. We’ve got to just find a way to recover and bounce back and try to get to 6-4.”
