Playoff Preview: Pirates aim to keep making plays against familiar foe

WHEELERSBURG — As New York Yankee legend Yogi Berra once said, "It's deja-vu all over again."

For the fourth-straight postseason, the Wheelersburg Pirates and the Barnesville Shamrocks will lock horns with a chance to advance in tournament play on Friday night at Ed Miller Stadium.

Overall, this will be the fifth meeting between two programs rich in football tradition.

The first ever meeting took place in 1992 with the Shamrocks winning 10-7 in an overtime thriller in the snow. Since then, the Pirates have dominated the series, winning 55-31 in 2022, 26-13 in 2023, and 24-7 last season.

"They're a very familiar foe," said Pirates coach Rob Woodward. "They've got a big offensive and defensive line and have two running backs that are both downhill players. They like to play-action off of that, but they're going to come in and run the football."

Last week, the Pirates found themselves in a fight early on against the Morgan Raiders. But as the game wore on, the Pirates pulled away behind some big plays in all three phases of the game.

"(Morgan) had a great game plan to maximize the athletes they have and get the ball to them in different ways. Ultimately our defense did what it needed to do for four quarters."

But despite being a familiar opponent, the Pirate defense will have to quickly transition from the wide-open offense of Morgan to the smashmouth attack from the Shamrocks.

And much like the previous encounters, the Pirates will be up against a tough Barnesville ground game that features a great tailback in Trey Toliver.

Toliver became the school's all-time leading rusher this season, as he has compiled 1,461 yards and 26 touchdowns in 2025, giving him nearly 3,200 for his career.

If the Shamrocks go through the air, they'll rely on the arm of Cole Francis, who got the starting job after the graduation of 3-year starter Casey Carpenter. The junior signal caller has filled the role well for Barnesville, completing 75 of 126 passes for 1,304 yards and 11 touchdowns.

The Pirates will counter with their defense, which has given up an average of 72 yards a game. Additionally, the defense has given up just 67 yards through the air.

So far this season, Wheelersburg's defensive front seven has combined for 15.5 sacks and 45.5 tackles for loss.

That front will be headed by Ison Emnett, Ryan Meeker, and Landon McGraw in the trenches. Then at the linebackers, it will be Brady Doss, Luke Kouns, Hunter Henderson and Elijah Brown.

Offensively, Woodward said the game plan on offense will be just like it was last Friday night and the rest of the season thus far.

"We methodically moved the ball down the field on that first drive and scored last week and we've been able to do that a lot this year. Then (Morgan) had to tighten up and we finally were able to go for that big play."

One of the key reasons for the success of the offense has been the play of the Pirates skill players, starting with quarterback Braylon Rucker. On the season, Rucker has thrown for 1,438 yards, 15 touchdowns and no interceptions. Rucker has also ran for an additional 396 yards.

Woodward credited Rucker's ability to make the right decisions as a key part of his growth this season and leading the offense.

"Rucker's overall completion percentage is at 75% and a lot of those passes are his decisions. Whether it be throwing the ball out of bounds or a ball where we told him here's a chance to take a shot down field, and he puts the ball only where our guy can catch it but didn't. So those plays go against his stat line, but allows us to live another down and stretch the defense."

"We had some situations early on where there was just miscommunication and you assume a player knows where you want to go with the football. We got that rectified and that, to me, has been the maturation that you can see throughout all this and to put everyone in position to help."

But it doesn't stop at Rucker, as a stable of running backs featuring Elijah Brown and Stephen Hall will be the main weapons alongside Rucker when the ball is snapped on Friday.

"Elijah Brown has been great running the football all year and he was complemented by Stephen Hall early in the season until he had a bit of an injury. But Hall is back now and ready to contribute."

On the outside the receiver corps will be led by Kenyon Evans and Xavier Miller.

"Then you have two receivers on each side, Miller and Evans, who just play off of each other. One can have all the stats in one game, and then it switches the next game."

Another key element to the Pirates will be in the kicking game with senior Cooper Heimbach. So far this season, Heimbach is 9 of 11 on field goals, including 2 kicks of over 50 yards (51,53).

Defensively, the Shamrocks are giving up an average of 10.5 points a game and have pitched 4 shutouts this season, including 34-0 wins the past two games.

The defense is headed by linebacker Hines Ford, who owns the school record for tackles in a career. So far this season, Ford has tallied 130 tackles.

Kickoff is set for 7:00 P.M.

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OHSAA Division 5, Regional Semifinals

Barnesville Shamrocks (9-2) at Wheelersburg Pirates (11-0)

Time: Friday, November 14, 7:00 PM

Where: Ed Miller Stadium, Wheelersburg, OH

Key Matchup to Watch:

Wheelersburg run defense vs. Barnesville rushing attack

The Shamrocks will be a tough test with all their size and strength along the interior. But the good news is the Pirate offensive line has been able to answer the challenge every Friday night. Whichever team establishes the line of scrimmage first will be able to set the tone of the game.

Impact Players to Watch:

Trey Tolliver, Barnesville

Tolliver will be the centerpiece of the Shamrocks' offensive attack on Friday. The juniior tailback comes into the game as the all-time leading rusher and is coming off a 102-yard, 3 touchdown performance last week.

Braylon Rucker, Wheelersburg

All season long, Rucker has been able to make the right decisions and the proof is there with the Pirates sporting an undefeated record. What makes the senior QB good is not what he does, but what he doesn't do.