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Teams ready for tonight’s OVAC All-Star Classic

WEST VIRGNIA ALL-STARS — West Virginia’s team includes several local products in the 73rd OVAC Rudy Mumley All-Star Football Game, set to kick off tonight at 7:15 p.m. at Wheeling Island Stadium. (Photo by Seth Staskey)

WHEELING — King football is back!

The Ohio Valley’s love affair with the gridiron resumes tonight and unofficially kicks off the 2018 season when Ohio and West Virginia clash for the 73rd time in the annual OVAC Rudy Mumley All-Star Football Game. Kickoff is slated for 7:15 and the game returns to Wheeling Island Stadium after spending a year at Martins Ferry because of structural issues at the stadium.

The site of the game actually doesn’t matter to neither Bruce Stiles’ Ohio squad nor Scott Holt’s West Virginia side. After spending the last week in camp at Bethany College, both teams are simply ready to go.

“Our kids are itching to play a game,” Stiles said. “It’s been a great week. They’ve had a good time and built a lot of relationships, but we could just sense (Friday) at our final practice that the kids are ready to go.”

Holt’s Mountaineer squad is feeling the same way.

“We’ve had a great time with these kids and it’ll be tough to see it end, and as much fun as we’ve had, we’ve still gotten a team ready to play a football game and that’s why they came,” Holt said. “These kids will carry memories of this week with them forever, but getting a win will make a great memory, too.”

Regardless of the experiences, all 65 players in camp this week want to win the game. Ohio owns the overall upperhand in the series with a 43-28-1 edge, but West Virginia has narrowed that gap each of the last three seasons. Ohio’s last victory came in 2014. The Mountain State posted an exciting 20-13 victory last season when Isaac Rine found John Burkhalter on a late touchdown pass.

“It’s been a while (since Ohio won),” Stiles said. “We’ve prepared well, our kids know the system and we really like our team, so we’ll have to go out and see what happens.”

If West Virginia is to continue its winning streak, Holt believes the play in the trenches will be where the difference lies. According to Holt, West Virginia will have few offensive lineman playing in the same position they held for their high school team in 2017.

“We play a little bit differently (at Cameron) and we do more pulling, trapping and probably zone block more than most small schools,” Holt said. “We took kids who fit that system, so these guys might be out of position for their teams, but if they had played at Cameron, the spot they’re playing (in the game) would be where they’d play for us.”

With Dragon alumnus Colby Brown at the controls at quarterback and University’s Clay Bailey also expected to see plenty of action, Holt is looking to get his plethora of speed and skill on the outside involved early and often.

“We’re going to need production from the outside,” Holt said. “We need those kids to produce for us.”

At the quarterbacks’ disposal will be the likes of Dereck Hess (John Marshall) and Rennie Clark (Wheeling Park) at running back. On the perimeter, Ethan Secrist (Brooke), Brooks Parsons (Magnolia) and Nate Phillips (Wheeling Park) are expected to get plenty of opportunties to catch passes.

The line will be comprised of center Mason Rice (Weir), right guard Ryan Ekey (Madonna), left guard Dawson Mellinger (Linsly), right tackle Cole Streyle (Morgantown) and left tackle Austin Loew (Wheeling Park).

“Most of the teams we play (during the season) at Cameron do not use a 4-3 defense like Union Local and Coach Stiles do, so we actually relied on input from some of the kids,” Holt said. “We asked what they liked and did against that scheme and used that information. It’s been a total team effort not just on the kids switching positions, but also how we’re going to try to get something going against Ohio.”

Don’t be surprised if West Virginia tries to dial something big up early because Stiles admitted that there will be adjustments made defensively as the game unfolds.

“We’ve spent so much time (in camp) working on us that we really didn’t prepare much for what West Virginia may do,” Stiles said. “My goal was to make us the best we can and then adjust. I am sure West Virginia is well prepared and I know from seeing them walk around at camp, they have some impressive athletes.”

Stiles also pointed out that the Buckeyes’ offense is ahead of the defense. He put some of that on himself because he’s coordinating the defense for the first time in several seasons.

“There’s been a learning curve for me getting back into running a defense,” Stiles said. “I am doing some things that I’ve never done before.”

At defensive end, Ohio will utilize a mixture of Demetrius Dokes (Martins Ferry), Rayquan Prayear (Martins Ferry) and Alex Krupa (Shadyside), while Alex Webb (Monroe Central) and Geno Drake (St. Clairsville) will get the start at defensive tackle.

The linebacking crew will be led by Dalton Hoover (Martins Ferry) and Koby Berger (Cambridge), while Levi Thompson (Steubenville Central) and Jamaal Petteway (Steubenville) will be in the mix at strong safety. Caden Arbaugh (Harrison Central), Easton Black (Meadowbrook), Michael Loy (East Liverpool) and Braden Lucas (Union Local) will all see quality action in the secondary.

Ohio’s offense is going to try to establish the run and then go from there, according to Stiles.

“There are no secrets with me,” Stiles said. “We have to establish the run, but we do feel comfortable that we can throw the ball, too. We’re going to try to have some fun with this offense.”

Ryan LaFollette (Monroe Central) is expected to see the first opportunity at quarterback. Jonathan Blackmon (Steubenville), Nick Miller (Shenandoah) and Ben Howell (Union Local) are ticketed for the backfield.

Bobby Feyko (Meadowbrook), Jake Keenan (Toronto), Josh Dulesky (Buckeye Local) and DeJuan Caldwell (Harrison Central) were named at receiver. Caldwell will also be LaFollette’s chief understudy.

Up front, the Buckeye State is going with a combination of Dylan Hanson (Shadyside), Jacob Donley (Union Local), Luc Baker (River), Hunter Bodkin (Martins Ferry), John Hawley (St. Clairsville).

West Virginia’s defense, meanwhile, is similar to Ohio in the sense that it’s behind the offense.

“We’ve focused on offense so much this week in finding a way to move the ball that we ended up backloading the week with defensive work,” Holt said. “We have capable kids on defense and we’ve developed a good trust with these kids. It’s just a matter of giving them the game plan of what we expect to see.”

Holt raved about his linebacking crew, which is comprised of Vic Giovengo (Linsly), Wyatt Wingrove (Cameron) and Nick Coulter (John Marshall). The outside linebackers are the Wheeling Central duo of Dawson Wear and Pat Brown. Up front, Loew is the lone player in the game expected to start both ways. Hayden Starcher (University) is the other end, while Brett Donohew (Wheeling Park) is the defensive tackle.

In the secondary, Nick Falbo (Linsly), Jaylon Bridges (Weir) and Trey Scott (Cameron) are slated for safety and the two corners, respectively.

Matt Greenwood (St. Clairsville) will handle the Ohio kicking duties, while Collin Williams (Oak Glen) is the West Virginia specialist.

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