Nov 9, 2025
Glenville State’s Landon Frey celebrates his 2-yard touchdown reception with Tariq Miller during the Pioneers’ 38-35 Mountain East Conference setback to Wheeling on Saturday afternoon at Parkersburg South’s Erickson All-Sports Facility. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
PARKERSBURG – Glenville State battled back from a 28-0 deficit here Saturday on senior day inside Erickson All-Sports Facility behind Anthony Garrett’s career-high five touchdown passes, but Wheeling head coach Zac Bruney’s Cardinals left town with a 38-35 Mountain East Conference victory following Conor Fitzpatrick’s 24-yard field goal as time expired.
“Wheeling came out and jumped on us,” admitted GSU head man Mike Kellar, who watched Garrett complete 21 of 35 for 289 yards as the G-men held a 444-364 total yards advantage. “I don’t know. That’s somewhat unexplainable as to why. Maybe coming off last week’s loss we were still licking our wounds a little bit, but the thing that I saw is I saw a high character team. A high character team that would fight, battle and compete. I told them at the end I said ‘I love you’ because they fight and compete and I love them because if they got that kind of attitude in their whole life their lives are going to be better.
“We got a good team. Me and coach Bruney were talking before the game. Really we are all the same team. It’s just who, whatever, hits that. I think a lot of it is if you look at D2 and portals and all these different rules, I just think you are getting the same team week in and week out. Look, we beat West Liberty by four. We lost to Wheeling by three. We lost to Charleston, who is probably going to win the league, and we lose to them by three. We beat Frostburg, who may win the league, and we beat them by six (double overtime). They are all 50-50 games.”
There was nothing 50-50 about most of the first half as Wheeling converted a pair of third downs and capped a 7-play, 52-yard scoring drive on the game’s opening series thanks to Landon Lutz’ 20-yard pass to Alex Godavitarne.
After trading punts, Garrett was picked off by Leonard Sherrod III, but the Cardinals turned the ball over on downs.
Glenville State’s Andre Jefferson pushes Wheeling’s Jordan Kaiser out of bounds during the Cardinals’ 38-35 Mountain East Conference victory Saturday afternoon at Parkersburg South’s Erickson All-Sports Facility. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
Following another Wheeling defensive stand, the Cardinals went up 14-0 early in the second via Dawaun Green’s 8-yard burst which culminated an 8-play, 79-yard march. Green had a game-high 92 ground yards on 13 attempts.
The Pioneer offense, which had a 23-21 edge in first downs, still couldn’t find a rhythm and had to punt yet again.
Cardinal signal-caller Ade Olanegan, who was 12 of 22 for 176 yards with Lutz going 6 of 10 for 63 yards, was hit in the red zone on a pass attempt. However, as the ball sputtered in the air Godavitarne high-pointed it for a 21-0 lead with 10:02 left in the half.
It was more of the same for GSU on its next drive as Zander Watson was once again called upon to punt and the Cardinals went down the field and scored. This time Olanegan fired a 10-yard touchdown pass near the Pioneer sideline to Colin Oberdick, who made a tough catch and managed to stay in bounds.
Trailing 28-0 with 6:11 still on the clock, the Pioneers finally got some momentum going into intermission. The G-men managed to flip the field via a Garrett to Tariq Meredith 52-yard hookup, but were faced with a fourth-and-5 at the Cardinal 8. Garrett, though, managed to get just enough for the first down and eventually found Landon Frey for a 2-yard touchdown pass.
Wheeling quarterback Ade Olanegan manages to avoid Glenville State’s Braden Boggs (20) and Jamar Grimball (57) before throwing a touchdown pass during the Cardinals’ 38-35 Mountain East Conference victory Saturday afternoon at Parkersburg South’s Erickson All-Sports Facility. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
“They are a really good team and they have a really good quarterback,” stressed coach Bruney. “Coach Kellar is a guy I have a ton of respect for. His staff is a very good staff. They have continuity, a collective. They have a program. We expected that. Not in that fashion. We expected a full four quarter game. It was going to come down to the last possession, last play, because it always does when we play.
“Our last four games with them and against them, the last five games, have been like that in different fashions. We got off to a great start. As a coach you are always trying to fight complacency. I don’t think we got complacent. They just started playing better. We played about as well as we could in that first half and they played about as bad as they had. We have to do a better job of withstanding success. Overall I’m really proud of them.”
The lone six-pointer in the third quarter came when the Pioneers opened the second half by covering 83 yards in eight plays.
Jeremiah King, who toted 22 times for 90 stripes, raced down the Pioneer sideline for a wheel route that Garrett put on the money. King was able to haul in the over the shoulder aerial as the ball hit his fingertips and popped up in the air before he grabbed it and raced the final 13 yards for the 35-yard touchdown.
Glenville State got the ball back midway through the third when the Cardinals were forced to punt after Tank Gant had a strip-sack of Olanegan.
Wheeling’s Alex Godavitarne leaps to haul a 2-yard touchdown pass from Ade Olanegan during the Cardinals’ 38-35 Mountain East Conference victory versus Glenville State on Saturday afernoon at Parkersburg South’s Erickson All-Sports Facility. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
Although it took the hosts, who have played on the road all season as Morris Stadium is getting a facelift, 17 plays to matriculate 79 yards, GSU finally got within a score after Miller’s 3-yard touchdown reception that came five seconds into the fourth.
Following the score, things went awry for the G-men as Johann Villasenor’s squib kick turned into disaster as it appeared to be an attempted onside kick. Although two Pioneers looked like they might be able to recover it, the ball took an awkward bounce and Baron Lucey was able to grab it and dart 45 yards to paydirt and deflate the entire GSU sideline.
“It wasn’t an onside. Our kicker missed. We were squibbing the ball deep,” said coach Kellar. “It would’ve been one of the best onsides I’d ever seen if we knew we could do it. It’s the damnedest thing I have ever seen.
“It had so much spin on it. We pooch it. We kick it deep left and we squib kick it. We’ve been doing it all year long. I watched it hit right off the left side of his foot. He almost missed it entirely.”
The score for Wheeling came exactly when they needed it the most.
Glenville State’s Anthony Bachinski tackles Wheeling’s Landyn Hores during the Cardinals’ 38-35 Mountain East Conference victory Saturday afternoon at Parkersburg South’s Erickson All-Sports Facility. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
“Wheeling Park young man who does everything right,” coach Bruney said of Lucey. “He’s a special teams guy and he’s a backup receiver, but he owns his role. He does great and he’s a really good special teams player for us.
“He fielded the ball and did exactly what he’s coached to do because we’ve practiced that. Whether it was a squib or kind of an onside gone bad, we made a critical play right there in special teams. It took all three phases to win today.”
Down but not out, the Pioneer offense managed to flip the field yet again as Arnav Thornhill had a 51-yard catch-and-run reception on the ensuing drive to get the ball into the red zone.
Garrett’s fourth touchdown of the day – a 3-yarder to Naseem Pacheco – closed the deficit back to seven at 35-28 with 11:52 to play.
Glenville State was immediately back in business after Jaiden McLendon Parker picked off Olanegan, but the Pioneer drive stalled at the 23 after Garrettt and Amari Colon-Brown couldn’t connect on third and fourth down.
Wheeling’s Kameron Reynolds knocks down a pass in the end zone intended for Glenville State’s Tariq Meredith during the Cardinals’ 38-35 Mountain East Conference victory Saturday afternoon at Parkersburg South’s Erickson All-Sports Facility. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
Despite holding Wheeling to a three-and-out, coach Kellar’s squad also was forced to punt before limiting the Cardinals to another three-and-out.
With just 3:17 remaining, the Pioneers had to drive 81 yards for the tying score. Garrett hit tight end Koraun Perdue on back-to-back plays for a first down and a key 13-yard gallop by Zavione Wood picked up another with the ball now at midfield.
Miller then hauled in a 13-yard reception and it was 1st-and-10 at the Cardinal 25 after Garrett was flushed from the pocket and ran 7 yards for a first down. After a 9-yard gain by Garrett on first down, Wheeling called timeout with the clock at 0:58. Three plays later Garrett was able to find Miller in the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown as Brody Layman’s extra point finally tied it with 39 seconds left.
Wheeling’s Trey Shaw III proceeded to return the kickoff 38 yards to the Cardinal 46. On the first play from scrimmage, Olanegan found Jordan Kaiser open for a 42-yard completion that doomed the Pioneers.
“We had a good play call and really great protection. We came off our first, second read but we were able to extend the play and Ade did a great job and Jordy did a great job of making a great adjustment in the air to catch the ball. It gave us an opportunity to win,” said Bruney, who likes the fact his program is 4-1 now away from home. “We play well on the road. We always have. A change in venue doesn’t bother us because our guys believe in our process and they trust the process.
“You know, I’m really proud of them. It was a 60-minute darn near more game today, but we knew we were going to get that. Glenville has a lot to be proud of, too. That was a hellacious football game that went a bunch of different ways and they could’ve folded up and not gave us that type of comeback but they did. Hats off to coach Kellar and his team.”
Wheeling (6-4, 5-2) ends the season at noon next Saturday with a short road trip to West Liberty.
The Pioneers (5-5, 4-3) will look to avoid a season-ending three-game slide when they collide with the Bobcats of West Virginia Wesleyan at 1 p.m. next Saturday.
“There’s too much pride there,” coach Kellar said of expecting anything but the best from his guys next week. “I think between the staff and the coaches and between the coaches and the players we have too much pride to let that happen. We’ll show up and have a good week of preparation. Monday is a new day. Come out and practice. Do what you do.
“There’s some things that will be a little different next week because it is the last game, but it is what it is man. We got to put it together and finish the year, finish 6-5. For not ever playing a home game, a transition year before you go into a new stadium, probably all and all, you know there’s some good things in there I guess, but right now it doesn’t feel that way.”
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com
Glenville State running back Jeremiah King has the ball go off his fingertips before grabbing an over the shoulder wheel route that went for a 35-yard scoring strike from Anthony Garrett during the Pioneers’ 38-35 Mountain East Conference setback to Wheeling on Saturday afternoon at Parkersburg South’s Erickson All-Sports Facility. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
Glenville State’s Tank Gant strip-sacks Wheeling quarterback Ade Olanegan during the Pioneers’ 38-35 Mountain East Conference setback on Saturday afternoon at Parkersburg South’s Erickson All-Sports Facility. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
Glenville State quarterback Anthony Garrett dives for an extra yard during Saturday afternoon’s 38-35 Mountain East Conference setback to Wheeling at Parkersburg South’s Erickson All-Sports Facility. The Pioneers fell behind 28-0 before rallying to tie it behind Garrett’s career-high five touchdown passes. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
Glenville State’s Naseem Pacheco (3) celebrates with Ben George (88) following his 3-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter of the Pioneers’ 38-38 Mountain East Conference setback on Saturday afternoon at Parkersburg South’s Erickson All-Sports Facility. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
Glenville State’s Tariq Miller goes down to grab Anthony Garrett’s career-high fifth touchdown pass, a 13-yarder that tied the game with 39 seconds to go, but Wheeling emerged with a 38-35 Mountain East Conference victory on Saturday afternoon at Parkersburg South’s Erickson All-Sports Facility after Conor Fitzpatrick made a 24-yard field goal as time expired. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
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