Wheeling overcomes Maine West

Neither Wheeling head coach Dave Dunbar nor Maine West head coach Chris Hare could be more pleased or disappointed to the start of the season for each of their respective teams Friday night.

Maine West, under the guidance of Hare, is looking to change its losing culture and get started off on the right foot in 2010. And things couldn't have started any better.

On the opening kickoff, 5-foot-5 wide receiver Jezz Buluran returned it 89 yards for the touchdown, stunning the Wheeling home crowd.

Things continued to go the Warriors way as their defensive line controlled the line of scrimmage in the first quarter, not allowing the Wildcat offense to get in gear.

"They came at us with a different look," said Wheeling running back Eddie Scanlon. "We changed it up (in the second quarter) and brought it."

And no one brought it more than Scanlon. The junior carried the ball 11 times for 120 yards and a touchdown, with most of his yards coming after first contact, as Wheeling went on to a 19-13 victory.

"My dad always preached keep your feet moving and good things happen," he said.

However, Scanlon had to leave the game during the third quarter with a bruised back and so quarterback Tyler Brady stepped up. Brady (19 carries, 109 yards, 2 TDs) started the scoring for Wheeling in the second quarter with two touchdown runs.

"Give them the credit," said Hare. "They spread us out and that quarterback is a heck of a runner. We over-pursued and got caught. They hit us with huge gains.

"Our goal was to out physical them and it didn't happen."

Maine West had an opportunity late in the fourth quarter to win the game. After an interception by Brady, the Warriors took over on their own 20 with 4:17 remaining down by 6 points. Facing a third-and-13 from their own 17, quarterback Ziggy Krycka (16 carries, 71 yards, 1 TD) completed a pass to Mike Cardamone (3 catches, 29 yards) for a first down.

But on third-and-19, Krycka was intercepted by Luke Smith, sealing the victory for the Wildcats.