WHEELING — Are you ready for some football … indoor-style? If so, WesBanco Arena is the place to be Saturday night.

West Virginia entertains West Michigan for the American Arena League’s Northern Conference championship inside WesBanco Arena. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and all fans are encouraged to wear black attire.

Not only is a trip to the AAL championship game at stake, but the Roughriders will look to extend their unbeaten record to 12-0 in their inaugural season in the Ohio Valley.

“It’s going to be a showdown. We’re like night-and-day compared to how we were playing back then,” West Virginia coach Mook Zimmerman said of a Week 4 33-28 victory on the road in Muskegon’s L.C. Walker Arena. “We’ve got some key pieces that we’ve acquired over that time span.

“I like our chances, but it’s going to take everybody. When I say ‘everybody,’ I mean more than just the team. I mean the entire Ohio Valley. We need everyone to come out and support us in our journey to the championship game.

“We’re called the West Virginia Roughriders, but we’re doing this for the everyone in the Ohio Valley.”

In that first meeting, the Ironmen (5-1) led 28-27 with 10 minutes left to play, but former WVU quarterback Jarrett Brown led the Roughriders down the field, completing the drive with a TD pass to former Madonna standout Connor Arlia with a little more than three minutes remaining.

West Michigan drove to the West Virginia 5, but linebacker Cole Smelley, a Bridgeport product, picked off Alex Carder’s pass in the end zone to preserve the win.

“They are not a bad squad and they’re coming in here with a bunch of confidence because they have been the closest team to us all year,” Zimmerman said. “They think they beat themselves in that game, so they’re coming in here with the mindset that they can beat us.

“It should be a good game to watch. We left a lot of points off the board due to mistakes.”

Both teams possess explosive offenses and stingy defenses. The Roughriders are averaging 54 points per outing after a 57-13 quarterfinal triumph over New Jersey last Saturday. They are giving up 16.6. Meanwhile, the Ironmen rang up 71 in a shutout of the Indianapolis Enforcers in their playoff contest.

West Virginia was nearly unstoppable last week with Brown at the controls. He completed 13 of 17 passes for 213 yards with six touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Four of those touchdowns went to Larry Beavers, Jr., who finished with five TD grabs and 138 yards. Other top targets include Arlia, Chad Walcott and former WVU running back Noel Devine.

Anchoring the three-man offensive front is center Jerrod Hernandez. He is flanked by James Carter Sr. and Isreal Evans.

The Roughriders defense, which Zimmerman referred to as “the Nation of Domination,” is led by Smelley and Brian Price at linebacker. Nose guard Harold Love is healthy after missing a couple of games, while the ends are Larry Ford, BJ McBryde and Shawn Oakman. Ford played at WVU, while McBryde starred at UConn and played three seasons in the NFL with Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle. The 6-9 Oakman played at Baylor.

The secondary consists of former WVU defensive back Ellis Lankster, Kennith Ridley and Jamie Bender. Another former Mountaineer, Robert Sands, was injured and missed last week.

Cam Dixon is listed as a linebacker. Davon Dixon is a defensive back.

“Shutouts in arena football is unheard of with all of the rules geared for the offense to be successful,” Zimmerman said. “It’s a huge deal, no matter what type of competition you are playing, when a team shuts the other one out. I applaud my guys for that. They’ve been great all year.”

The 28 points scored by West Michigan in the first encounter are the most given up by West Virginia.

“We haven’t allowed 30 points all year long. That’s unheard of in this league, as well,” Zimmerman added. “Thirty points is one touchdown a quarter and we haven’t allowed that all year. The opposition can have what it wants 20-to-20, but when we get inside the red zone, it’s our time.

“Last week was a great team win. The offense did it’s job. The defense did it’s job. I’ve said that if everybody does a little, nobody has to do a lot.”

Carder is a veteran of indoor football, playing in the AFL, Midwest Professional IFL and China Arena Football League, as well as the Canadian Football League. He went undrafted out of college, but signed with the Detroit Lions as a free agent. He spent a month with the team.

“He has a lot of poise back there,” Zimmerman said of Carder, who passed for 8,886 yards in two-and-a-half seasons at Western Michigan University. “He’s a veteran with a great arm and good vision.”

Carder’s top targets are Carrington Thompson Sr., Corey Johnson, Daryl Gooden and Michael Malushi.

Running back Dakota Smith was the MPIFL Running Back of the Year in 2018. Jesse Somsel was the MPIFL OL of the Year.

Nose guard Ryan Armstrong anchors the defense which also includes standouts Derek Vandenbosch (LB), Eric Thompson (DB), Corey Edwards (DB) and Nick Dekraker (DL), who played at Youngstown State.

The winner meets either the Carolina Havoc or the Carolina Energy. The Havoc, then based in Atlanta, defeated Richmond last year for the MPIFL Championship before both franchises relocated.