Miners remain undefeated
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WHEELING -- Through five games, it looks as if the Wheeling Miners have struck gold this season.
The Miners soundly defeated the Michigan Avengers on Sunday during a Mother's Day game, 57-18, to remain undefeated on the season at 5-0.
Wide receivers Jeremiah Flores and Andre Thomas-Cobb each had two touchdown catches, quarterback Grant Russell had four passing and two rushing scores, and the Miners defense harassed the Avengers all evening for another dominant win.
Wheeling has won each of their first five games by double digits- including an 88-20 victory over the Western Maryland Warriors last week.
"The guys are playing really well together," Miners head coach Josh Resignalo said of his team's win streak. "The biggest thing is the camaraderie we have and the rapport amongst each other. It's a good group of guys to be around, and that makes things a lot easier when you're coaching, and they take ownership of a lot of things, and that makes a team easy to coach."
Wheeling led wire-to-wire Sunday, starting with a jet-sweep touchdown run by Isaiah Robinson, a West Liberty alum, from five yards out. Robinson set up the score with a 35-yard catch earlier in the drive. Another West Liberty alum, Charles Westbrook, punched in the ensuing two-point try.
Grant Russell threw a 15-yard touchdown toss to Thomas-Cobb in the corner of the end zone to put themselves up 16-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Russell punched in a 3-yard touchdown scramble in the early portion of the second quarter to build a 22-0 lead. Russell finished with 181 yards passing, four passing touchdowns, 30 yards rushing and two rushing touchdowns.
Michigan finally got on the board on their next drive, but another short touchdown dash by Russell served as a quick answer with under a minute to play in the second.
Wheeling led 28-12 at halftime.
A 16-point lead ballooned into 39 points by the end of the game.
"We played pretty good overall," Resignalo said. "We were a little sluggish in the first half, there was a little chippiness here and there, working through that. We ended up pulling it together in the second half and did a good job."
On the opening drive of the second half, Russell hit Jeremiah Flores deep with a 31-yard touchdown strike.
On defense, the Miners came away with a goalline turnover next, linebacker Andrew Plowden recovering a fumble on Wheeling's own one yard-line.
The offense made the most of their extra opportunity, Russell finding Flores on a deep post for a 45-yard touchdown which made it 44-12 halfway through the period.
Thomas-Cobb kept pouring it on with a long 32-yard touchdown reception just as time ran out on the third quarter. Wheeling led 50-12.
Thomas-Cobb ended with two catches for 47 yards and two touchdowns. Flores finished with three catches for 82 yards and two touchdowns. Robinson totaled 41 receiving yards on three catches, also running in a 5-yard touchdown.
Pete Savrides came up with the lone score for Wheeling in the fourth quarter, a two-yard rush off a jet sweep.
It was the Wheeling defense who highlighted the fourth quarter. Wheeling University alum Isaiah Lewis recorded a sack and Dontae Mason pulled down an interception in the period.
It was a day to write home about on both sides of the ball for the Miners on Sunday, their defense holding the Avengers passing attack to a completion percentage under 50%, and coming away with multiple turnovers.
"We had a good game plan," Resignalo said of his defense. "We know what their experience level was so we showed them a few things that they might not have been used to. We played really well up-front too, and that helps the back end a lot."
The Miners will attempt to remain undefeated on May 18, when they face the Jersey Bearcats in a rematch of Wheeling's week two home opener, a 42-32 victory.