Dragons expect power game from Pirates
Published 11:32 am Thursday, September 16, 2010
PROCTORVILLE — There’s nothing intricate or fancy about the Wheelersburg Pirates. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything to fear.
Fairland Dragons’ coach Dave Carroll doesn’t expect anything fancy from the Pirates except good old fashion hard-nosed football.
And that’s plenty.
“They pretty much line it up and shove it down your throat. They don’t do a lot, but what they do they do it well. They have some athletes,” said Carroll.
One of the athletes who concerns Carroll is senior running back Brandon Schankweiler who had 165 yards and four touchdowns in last week’s 34-28 win over Portsmouth.
His 19-yard run with 14 seconds left snapped a 28-28 tie and gave the Pirates their first win of the season after tough losses to Ironton and Oak Hill.
“They’re pretty impressive. They’re quick off the ball. Schankweiler is one heck of a back. He finds that open spot and he’s gone. They’re pretty sound on both sides of the ball. Defensively there are a lot of different things they do.”
Schankweiler has a big offensive line to run behind.
Wheelersburg (1-2) has Dakota Luster (6-2, 200) at tight end, Joey Reinhardt (6-3, 295) at left tackle, Jeb Conkey (5-11. 210) at left guard, Danny Hudgel (6-, 230) is the center, Chris Prater (6-2, 230) at right guard and Tyler Brown (6-0, 285) at at right tackle.
“They’ve got a lot of size. They’re big and strong and they create match-up problems,” said Carroll.
Fairland (1-2) also picked up its first win of the season last week by winning at Tolsia, W.Va., 20-18.
The Dragons lost tailback Eric Riley with a broken collarbone but they got a much-needed booster with the return of tackle Adam Lee (6-5, 350).