Glenville State eyes first MEC victory at Wheeling
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GLENVILLE -- The final opportunity to earn a road win this season comes at 1 p.m. Saturday for first-year Glenville State head coach Jake Casteel as the Pioneers head to Bishop Schmitt Field to take on fellow Mountain East Conference foe Wheeling.
The Cardinals (5-4, 4-2) of head man Zac Bruney are riding a two-game winning streak after running past host Concord, 47-25, last week while also earning a 27-24 road win on Oct. 24 at Frostburg State.
During last week’s triumph, Wheeling quarterback Landon Lutz ran for two touchdowns and completed 9 of 16 attempts for 145 yards.
Despite not having leading rusher Dawaun Green, the Cardinals leaned on Ayden McKinstry, who found the end zone twice and turned 17 carries into 89 yards.
Glenville State (1-8, 0-6), which is 0-5 on the road, got the ground game going during last week’s 24-19 setback to West Virginia State behind Jamir Fox (22-79) and Amir Simmons (12-57).
“Really tough one to swallow I think for everybody,” Casteel said of last week’s setback where they had a 16-14 halftime lead and had to settle for a quartet of Brody Layman field goals in the red zone. “That’s four out of our last five games have been a one-score, touchdown or less, in the fourth quarter and we have not found a way to win, finish the game, which is disappointing. You got to be able to run the ball. You got to be able to finish just like short yardage.
“You got to be able to move the line of scrimmage and run the football into the end zone, and we were not able to do that. That’s something we just got to continue to work on. I love how Fox runs. I like how Amir runs the football. They are both a little bit different. Fox is super downhill. Amir feels it out a little bit more, but they both are really good in their own way and then the O-line started moving people, sticking on blocks.”
Casteel added of Wheeling on his weekly GoMart coaches show “they are really sound. You could tell they’re really well coached. They’re one of the best defenses in the league. Got a good scheme.
“Offensively, they are very sound. They do not beat themselves. They make you beat them. They played good football. I got a lot of respect for them and their coaching staff and how they do it.”
GSU signal-caller JD Sherrod went to the air 49 times against the Yellow Jackets and completed 26. His 311-yard day where Caden Harris (10-95) and Kyree Bunny (3-87) were his top targets weren’t quite enough.
Casteel knows his Pioneers have to keep Lutz in check.
“He’s really accurate. Really, really smart with the football,” added the coach. “He’s a big kid and he’s more athletic than you think.
“He throws the deep ball really well. Really smart with the football. He’s an impressive guy on film. He’s one of the better ones in the conference.”
Wheeling is currently second in the MEC standings behind West Liberty, while the Pioneers have this Saturday and next week’s home finale versus W.Va. Wesleyan and former head coach Mike Kellar to build some momentum heading into next season.
“This is one of our longer road trips, so get off that bus ready to go,” stressed Casteel. “That’s going to be a huge deal. Establish the run game. Stop the run. Same as usual, and then can we finish the game?
“Play four quarters of football, which we have not put together yet. If we can do those things, I’ll be happy. I think we’ll be happy with what the result is, but this league’s been nuts. Anybody can beat anybody.”
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com