Photo by Nick Henthorn Union Local’s Brody Perzanowski, pictured during a regular season game against Harrison Central last year.

WHEELING — Union Local and Wheeling Central will meet for just the ninth time on the football field Friday night when the Jets (1-0) visit Bishop Schmitt Field on the campus of Wheeling University.

Kickoff is set for 7 o’clock on the artificial surface.

Union Local, which debuted last week with a 42-12 rout of Warren JFK, trails the all-time series 6-2 and has outscored 177-84 in those contests. The two programs haven’t met since 2020 — a 35-25 Wheeling Central win.

The fact that the Jets have already played a game is a definite plus for them, according to both head coaches.

“It absolutely does,” Union Local head coach Bernie Thompson said of playing a game. “I think we are battle-tested from the last few years. Warren JFK was a great team. They have a great program up there. They were a quality week 1 opponent, but it was nice to get out there and butt heads with somebody else. It should be very beneficial for us.”

Veteran Wheeling Central head coach Mike Young agreed.

“We will have our hands full with them already having a game under their belts and them also having an all-Ohio tailback returning,” Young said. “We know we will be challenged. This will be no breather by any means. We’ll have to be ready. They (Union Local) have been battle-tested and came through with a win. We haven’t been battle-tested yet, so there are a lot of unknowns for us.

“We know we have our work cut out for us,” Young stressed. “We went and watched Union Local play last week against Warren JFK who was a pretty physical team, but they (Union Local) handled them in the second half.”

Young was referring to the Jets’ Brody Perzanowski. The junior ran for 151 yards and three touchdowns in the opener.

“First and foremost, with Coach Young I have the utmost respect for him. In my opinion, he’s a coaching legend,” Thompson added. “I think he embodies everything that is good with high school sports. I’m honored to be on the same field as him on Friday.

“His teams are always tough, and this year will be no exception,” Thompson continued. “They’re going to be physical. They are going to be athletic. They’ve got great players all over the field. Their quarterback is a dual threat, they have some explosive backs and their receivers are athletic. It’s going to be hard to contain all of their weapons.”

Thompson was pleased with the way his team responded last week.

“I was proud of the hard work and commitment that was made over the summer. The coaches and players both put in a tremendous amount of time and effort. It was satisfying to go out there in week 1 and put together a pretty good performance,” Thompson added. “I liked our aggressive play. I thought we were physical, but we had a lot of mistakes that we need to clean up.”

Most of the mistakes came in the form of penalties. The Jets were flagged 13 times for 95 yards.

“That is something that we are going to address this week,” Thompson stressed. “What we need to do is A, clean up the mistakes. We can’t have those, and B, we need to match the intensity that we came out with in the opener,” he said. “From here on out all we want to do is get better with each week and be playing our best football when it really counts.”

The Maroon Knights are led by junior quarterback Nico Kusic. He was a first team all-state safety last season.

“Nico is an outstanding athlete. He started for us last year most of the season and he played on a (W.Va.) state championship basketball team last winter,” Young said of Kusic. “He’s going to be our leader out there.”

The running backs will be senior Kade Koroneos and junior Dustin Saner.

“They both have good speed and are hard runners,” Young noted.

Max Olejasz, 6-7 senior, is the tight end.

“Max is very versatile. He will also play defensive back and will lineup as a wideout,” Young said.

Senior offensive lineman Luke Wear, at 6-7, 285, is one of the bigger players to ever don the Maroon and White.

Our strength is going to be in our kicking game with junior Clay Petry.

“He kicked a 52-yard field goal against Brooke in a scrimmage last week,” Young recalled. “He has a strong leg. He should be able to put his kickoffs in the end zone and we’re confident in him from 35 yards-and-out on field goals.”

Having just eight games on the 2025 schedule makes this game a little more meaningful, according to Young.

“I don’t think it’s a matter of life or death, but it is as important as heck that we come out of the game injury-free and find some bright spots to move forward with,” he said. “You can’t base your season on one game when you only have eight. That’s the hand we’ve been dealt, so we’ve got to play with it.”