Photo by Joe Lovell Martins Ferry’s Walkquem Cox leaps over a defender Thursday night during the Purple Riders’ road game against Wheeling Central. Cox ran for 148 yards and a touchdown Thursday.

WHEELING — They say it’s not how you start, but how you finish, but Thursday night on Bishop Schmitt Field, the Wheeling Central Maroon Knights’ hot start made all the difference in a 28-20 late-season victory over Martins Ferry.

The Maroon Knights (5-2) jumped out to a 14-0 lead less than seven minutes into Thursday’s game, creating just enough of a cushion to survive a tenacious Purple Riders (6-3) squad.

“Hard-fought game for four quarters,” Wheeling Central head coach Mike Young said. “Give Martins Ferry their credit, their effort. I think our kids battled and battled hard. A couple bad snaps there destroyed two good drives we had going on, but we didn’t fold. We bent a little bit, we didn’t fold. Proud of the kids, proud of the kids and how they played. Feel very good about us going in next week against Brashear.”

Wheeling Central’s quarterback-running back combo of Nico Kusic and Kade Koroneos made big plays all night for the Purple Riders. Kusic finished with 107 rushing yards and 130 passing yards, while Koroneos tallied 117 rushing yards and 67 receiving yards. He had three total touchdowns.

Koroneos ripped off a 53-yard run on Central’s opening drive before ending it with a two-yard touchdown plunge, and after forcing a Martins Ferry punt, Kusic put his team ahead 14-0 with a 22-yard keeper run to the end zone up the middle. With 5:28 showing on the first-quarter clock, Wheeling Central looked to be in control.

Not so fast.

Martins Ferry’s own QB-RB combo of Colby Kropka and Walkquem Cox helped Martins Ferry get on the board in the first quarter, Cox reeling in a crucial 14-yard third-down pass, and adding a 10-yard run on a scoring drive which ended in a Kropka QB sneak past the goalline. With eight seconds to play in the first quarter, Ferry was on the board.

Cox collected 148 rushing yards while Kropka threw for 93 yards and ran for two touchdowns. Cox ran in a two-point conversion to bring Ferry within six, 14-8.

Cox ripped off an 85-yard run to the house in the second quarter, and though it was brought back because of a block in the back, Cox would eventually sniff out the end zone with a 14-yard dash up the middle. A failed two-point conversion kept the game tied, 14-14.

“The thing I love the most about this team is the fight,” Martins Ferry head coach Justin Kropka said.

“You know, we had a lot of guys playing on one leg and a lot of guys gutting it out all night, but the thing I dislike the most is the self-inflicted wounds, the pre-snap penalties. I don’t know where that came from. We haven’t done that all year.

“I don’t know if it was the excitement of the game or what was going on, but, you know, you can’t start three different drives in first-and-15’s, that kind of kept us off-schedule. I thought we missed some key plays when we had the opportunity. And, you know, that stuff happens, but when two good teams play, you can’t miss those kind of opportunities.”

Wheeling Central retook the lead with 4:22 ’till halftime, Koroneos diving in from one yard out. Joey Hall reeled in a 34-yard reception deep down the field to set up the Knights near the goalline.

Later, with under a minute to play before halftime, Central was in Rider territory, but Martins Ferry’s Maurice Barnett hawked an interception down the sideline with 30 seconds to play to erase the scoring opportunity for the Maroon and leave the score 21-14 going into the locker rooms.

Out of the half, offense slowed as both teams got their hands dirty on defense.

Kusic and Koroneos hooked up for a 28-yard touchdown pass to double up Martins Ferry, 28-14 late in the third quarter, but Martins Ferry punched back with a long drive which went all the way down to Central’s two yard line, where Kropka snuck in his second rushing score. Elijah Roby came down with a pair of jump-balls on that drive, a 37-yard catch and 27-yard catch.

Walkquem Cox showed up on defense to give Ferry the ball back, coming away with a third-down sack to force a Central punt, giving Ferry the ball back with seven minutes in the game, but Wheeling Central’s own defense showed up on the following drive, forcing a turnover-on-downs on their own 34-yard line. Central’s Joey Jerrome was in coverage on the fourth-down incompletion.

Needing a couple of first downs to secure the game, the Maroon Knights were faced with a third-and-seven with just over two minutes to play. It was time for Kusic and Koroneos again.

Kusic duck and weaved behind the line, evading pressure and scrambling to his left, then doubling back to his right before lofting a pass on the run to Koroneos, who’d leaked out the right side from the backfield. A 20-yard completion, and pivotal first down.

“That was probably the play of the game, in a sense of sealing the deal,” Young said. “And then, of course, Nico came alive tonight. I don’t know how many yards he ran for, but he had a lot. He ran hard and took a lot of pressure off of Cade, which we had to do. And, you know, that also takes some pressure off the passing game.”

Both teams have only one more game on their schedule.

Wheeling Central looks forward to a homecoming game, welcoming Brashear (Pa.) to town. The win tonight went a long way for the Knights’ playoff positioning.

“It’s definitely huge for the playoffs because we only have eight games and I’m not sure about that, how it all works and plays out, but I know we’ll definitely get some bonus points here, which keeps us up, hopefully, in the top four, maybe top two, I don’t know. We’ll see how it plays out, but we got to get Brashear next week here. That’s our homecoming, although we’ll have two weeks, so we have to find a lot to do, to stay busy and get ready for the postseason.”

For Ferry, it’s the most important night of the year for their football team, preparing to travel to rival Bellaire.

“Now it becomes a one-game season, as far as we’re concerned. It always is,” Kropka said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re 0-9 or 9-0 going into that game, you end up playing a one game season. If you win it, it’s a great 364 days. If you lose it, it’s a bad 364 days. That’s where we’ll be focused as soon as we wake up tomorrow.”

Wheeling Central was penalized eight times for 70 yards Thursday. Martins Ferry was penalized 13 times for 92 yards.