Barnesville Football Defeats Wheeling Central 27-21
The Barnesville Shamrocks defeated the Wheeling Central Maroon Knights 27-21 to help brighten a cold and rainy Homecoming. The Shamrocks improved to 9-0 with just one week remaining in the regular season.
After seven weeks of games in which Barnesville was in control from the start, the Rocks have now gutted out two wins in a row with the outcome still in doubt on the final possession.
Wheeling Central took the opening kickoff but failed to advance the ball after a false start penalty and a pair of incomplete passes by Nico Kusic.
Barnesville’s first drive moved efficiently down the field, with six straight carries from Trey Toliver. Toliver finished the drive with a six-yard touchdown run. Linas Graef added the point-after kick to put the Rocks up 7-0 early in the first quarter.
Both teams struggled with their next few possessions, with drives sidetracked by penalties and turnovers. Eventually, the Maroon Knights took advantage of good field position, and Kusic found Brady Ernest on a 13-yard touchdown pass. With the successful extra point, the teams were tied at seven.
The Shamrocks responded with a 14-play, 80-yard drive. Toliver scored his second touchdown of the night on a three-yard run, followed by another successful Graef PAT.
Wheeling Central moved methodically down the field on its next possession, going 83 yards in 16 plays. Dustin Sanner’s four-yard touchdown run and the successful point-after kick tied the game 14-14 at the half.
During the halftime Homecoming festivities, Brooklyn Miller found the winning rose to become Homecoming Queen, with Izzy Reed as the runner-up.
Barnesville opened the second half with another 80-yard drive that took 7:24 off the clock. Colt Carpenter scored his first touchdown on a one-yard run. Graef’s extra point put the Shamrocks back up by seven.
But it took the Maroon Knights just one play and 13 seconds to tie the game again. Wyatt Stephens took the first snap of the drive 80 yards for the touchdown.
After the teams traded short drives, the Rocks were back in business and in the end zone with Carpenter’s second touchdown on a 19-yard run. With the point-after kick blocked, Barnesville led again, 27-21.
Wheeling Central started its next drive strong, but Toliver and Talon Anderson combined for a four-yard tackle for loss on second down. On third down, nearly the entire Barnesville line was in the Maroon Knights’ backfield, and the drive stalled with a desperation pass that fell incomplete.
Barnesville never gave Wheeling Central another possession, salting away the final 5:26 away with 11 straight runs and a Colt Carpenter victory-formation kneel-down to run out the clock.
Toliver finished the night with 46 carries for 300 yards and two touchdowns. Colt Carpenter added 66 yards on nine carries and two touchdowns of his own. In all, the Barnesville offense gained a total of 419 yards on a soggy night in Shamrock Stadium.
The Shamrocks will be back in action next Friday with the Milk Jug on the line as their rivals from Belmont, the Union Local Jets, come to town.
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