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WHEELING -- Wheeling Central, under coach Mike Young, knows all about winning on the road in the playoffs.
The No. 10 seed Maroon Knights tallied another victory away from Wheeling Saturday afternoon. Wheeling Central's defense played lights out, while the offense opened the game with a 13-play, 64 drive that ate up 7:02 of clock in a 13-0 victory over Ritchie County during a Class A quarterfinal matchup.
The Maroon Knights will face Pendleton County during a semifinal game with a day and time still to be determined.
"Our defense played lights out and did a tremendous job," Young said. "In the second half, the field conditions were really tough. We had really good ball security out there. Our kids stepped up, and I can't say enough about their physicality they played with, but the emotion they played within terms they didn't panic.
"I felt like our kids were focused the entire four quarters. They knew what was at stake. Two good running backs on the other side of the line. (Tre) Moss and (Garrett) Owens both of their running back we had to stop, and we knew that. I thought our scheme of what we had set up worked really well."
The offense got right to work for the Maroon Knights. Jacob Rine completed his first four pass attempts, including a 26-yarder to Payton Marling to get to the 1-yard line. After a couple of setbacks, Adam Murray reached over the goal line for the game's first score to put it at 7-0 with 4:58 left in the first.
"It was where we ate up the whole first quarter almost," Young said. "We were disciplined. We knew we had to do that because they put a lot of points on the board. Hats off to our offense and defensive coaches. They put the script in. We practiced it all week and changed up a little bit. Credit to our kids, credit to everybody that was out there either coaching or playing their hearts out. I'm very proud of all of them in terms of what they accomplished."
The defense forced three turnovers, including two interceptions and one fumble recovery. The Maroon Knights also held a Rebels' offense that averaged more than 43 points (43.3) per game during the regular season to 138 total yards.
With the game still up for grabs in the fourth quarter, the Maroon Knights looked to be in business after they got a hand on a punt and got the ball on the Ritchie County 45. However, the Rebels did not break and stuffed Murray on a fourth-and-1 on the 21 for a turnover on downs.
The Maroon Knights defense, though, forced a turnover of their own on the ensuing possession, as Jordan Waterhouse picked off an Ethan Haught pass with 3:20 to play.
Waterhouse then made a big play on offense. He took a direct snap and went into the end zone untouched from 20 yards out to put the game away.
"I felt good about (Saturday), but I think their size up front gave us trouble," Ritchie County coach Rick Haught said. "On a wet field, I was hoping to get them on grass. They're not on grass as much. They came in with a good offensive game plan, turned into a defensive struggle. They made a few more plays than us. I couldn't be more proud of our kids."
Waterhouse tallied 161 rushing yards, while Rine went 9 of 14 for 123. Jalen Creighton hauled in seven passes for 82 yards for the Maroon Knights.
A special moment was also captured near the end of the game. After Andrew Burkle recovered a fumble in the final seconds to all but secure Wheeling Central the win, the Maroon Knight offense went out for the final knee down with Curtis McGhee under center.
"Curt is an emotional leader on this team on or off the field," Young said. "He has the utmost respect of his teammate and his heart of the game. They know how bad he wanted to play. It was questionable. He's going into surgery the day before Thanksgiving, but we wanted to give him that last hurrah out there on the field representing us going into the semifinals."
Wheeling Central 13, Ritchie County 0
Wheeling Central 7-0-0-6 -- 13
Ritchie County 0-0-0-0 -- 0
W -- Murray 1 run (Rine kick), 4:58
W -- Waterhouse 20 run (kick blocked), 2:03
RUSHING: Wheeling Central 42-195-2td (Waterhouse 27-161-td, Murray 10-34-td, Rine 4-1, Team 1-(-1)). Ritchie County 29-73 (Moss 13-54, Owens 9-21, Procacina 4-0, Haught 2-(-1), Shaffer 1-(-2).
PASSING: Wheeling Central 9-14-123 (all by Rine). Ritchie County 7-14-65 (all by Haught).
RECEIVING: Wheeling Central 9-123 (Creighton 7-82, Waterhouse 1-15, Marling 1-26). Ritchie County 7-65 (Morrison 1-18, Procacina 4-41, Wayne 1-1, McKinney 1-5).
FIRST DOWNS: Wheeling Central 16, Ritchie County 11.
PENALTIES: Wheeling Central 5-30, Ritchie County 0-0.
FUMBLES: Wheeling Central 0-0, Ritchie County 3-1.