Wheeling Park Downs Butler, 20-13
Tagged under: Beyond The Keystone, District 7, Game Photos-Videos, Gameday Hub, News, Non-PIAA, pfn
Shane Lux | October 18, 2025
Butler – Wheeling Park bounced back from a pair of losses to hold off Butler 20-13 Friday night at Art Bernardi Stadium.
The Patriots made two defensive stands in the final four minutes to deny the Golden Tornado’s comeback hopes.
Wheeling Park had suffered a tough 45-42 loss to Fairmont Senior a week ago and was currently on a 2-game skid following a 28-7 setback to Morgantown, which, at the time, was ranked second in Class AAAA in West Virginia according to Metro News.
Butler would be a Class AAAA school in West Virginia, while Wheeling Park would be a 6A school in Pennsylvania.
“They’re a heck of a team, they’ve been working and you can tell,” said Wheeling Park senior Isaac Sands (Who scored two touchdowns in the game). “They’re a soild team and it was a good time. I’m glad we got this win, it feels great after those two losses to get a win like this from a Pennsylvania school.”
Despite the couple of setbacks, the Patriots made the journey to the Keystone State for the first time since a 49-8 victory over Brashear in 2023 in Pittsburgh.
Like, a few years ago, Wheeling Park got the job done, and their defense had a lot to do with it.
“We’ve been through it before against tough teams,” Sands said. “On the goal line in a close game, or maybe the last play of the game on the goal line. We always preach to stay down and keep working. Trust in your game plan, and you’ll get the stop and the win. We didn’t have the greatest performance last week, but I’m happy with our performance tonight.”
Trailing by a touchdown and taking over with 8:23 to play, Butler moved the football from their to the Patriots’ 4-yard line following a 2-yard rush from Mark Klemz.
Right before, they had converted a 4th-and-12 with a gadget play where receiver Tyson Pino threw a 16-yard completion to quarterback Nicco Baggetta.
However, a bad snap and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty backed them up to their 22-yard line, where Baggetta ran 14 yards to the Park 8-yard line on fourth down, turning the ball over on downs with 3:38 to play.
Butler got one final chance to pull even or go for the win when they took over with 2:12 on the clock at their 36-yard line.
The Golden Tornado was able to move the ball to the Patriots’ 29-yard line, where they faced a 4th-and-10 with just over a minute to play.
Nicco Baggetta rolled out to the far side and fired a pass into the end zone intended for Marcus Vicari that was broken up with 1:02 to play, securing the victory for Wheeling Park.
“Our kids know how to fight and how to be gamers on a Friday night,” said Butler head coach Eric Christy. “They never let games get away from them. There were moments tonight where it could have slipped away, and they fought back. It was defense in the first half and offense in the second half. It would have been nice to get a few more points on the board. I thought we had it there at the end with that throwback pass; we couldn’t quite get it in. Then on the other one, we take a penalty, and things got difficult from there. But these kids battled all game; they didn’t let any moment get too big for them.”
It was Baggetta’s legs that got Butler back into the contest as he ripped off a 64-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter, making it a one-one game after three quarters.
Wheeling Park had taken a 20-7 lead following a 3-yard touchdown run by Nolan Yanchak with 3:04 to play in the third stanza on a drive that lasted 13 plays and covered 72 yards.
The Patriots had stolen the game’s momentum early in the second quarter as Jed Hunley intercepted Baggetta at the Tornado 17-yard line, one play after Butler had turned away the Patriots on a 4th down.
Five plays later, Isaac Sands scored on a 4-yard run to even the score at seven.
“That was huge,” Sands said. “Momentum is the biggest thing in football, I think. You just gotta stay down, and one play can change the game. That was huge for us.”
It was then time for the Park defense to step up again as they stuffed tailback Mark Klemz for a 1-yard loss on 4th-and-1 as Butler gambled in their own territory with 5:57 to play in the half.
Wheeling Park wasted little time as they quickly drove 48 yards, scoring on Sands’ 24-yard reception from Jay Bordas that gave Park a 14-7 lead they would take into the locker room.
“It feels good, our starting running back is a little bit busted up,” said Sands. “So it feels good to come in there and help my team. That’s what you dream of as a little kid, scoring touchdowns.”
Isaac Sands rushed for 50 yards on 18 carries and caught two passes for 25 yards. Brennan Wack led the Patriots with 102 yards on 19 rushes, while catching three balls for 45 yards. Yanchak chipped in with 14 yards rushing and catching three passes for 42 yards.
Butler had taken a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter when Baggetta scored on a 21-yard run, capping a 9-play 56-yard drive.
Nicco Baggetta led the Golden Tornado with 124 yards on 12 carries, while completing 11 of 24 passes for 125 yards, and catching one pass for 16 yards.
“What they were doing was slanting their lines in different parts, so we had to come back off of that,” said Christy. “They were also stealing our signals. So, we got back into the West Virginia world. We had to switch back to wristbands and try other methods to avoid them calling out our plays. We noticed they would yell out when we gave a call, and they would run right to it. So that’s a little frustrating.”
Butler will now close their season next week when it travels to Clarion to take on District 9’s Central Clarion Wildcats. The Golden Tornado has secured its first winning season since 1997. Though Butler did finish the 2021 regular season at 5-4, a 40-21 loss to McDowell in the District 10 6A title game dropped their record to 5-5 that season.
“I’m always looking at the next game thinking 1-0,” Christy concluded. “8-2 sounds a lot better than 7-3, so I’d love to get that one capped off. That would be a good win, I mean, Central Clarion was in the state title game last year, and they’re surging right now. We’d love to end the season up there with a win.”
Wheeling Park, meanwhile, improves to 5-3 on the season and will travel to Steubenville next Friday night to battle the Big Red.
Game Highlights
Wheeling Park 20 Butler 13
Score by Quarters
Wheeling Park – 0 14 6 0 – 20
Butler – 7 0 6 0 – 13
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
B – Nicco Baggetta 21 yd run, (Alex Morris pat), 2:12 – 9-56
Second Quarter
WP – Isaac Sands 4 yd run, (Anthony Mealy pat), 8:00 – 5-17
WP – Sands 24 yd pass from Jay Bordas, (Mealy pat), 4:14 – 4-48
Third Quarter
WP – Nolan Yanchak 3 yd run, (kick failed), 3:04 – 13-72
B – Baggetta 64 yd run, (kick failed), 1:31 – 3-72
Individual Stats
Rushing: WP – Brennan Wack 19-102, Sands 18-50, Yanchak 3-14, Bordas 5-(-2), Team 2-0. Totals: 47-164. B – Mark Klemz 10-19, Baggetta 12-124, Deacon Simko 3-17, Team 1-(-12). Totals: 26-148.
Receiving: WP – Sands 2-25, Wack 3-45, Owen Dobrzynski-Hines 1-5, Tatum Justice 1-4, Yanchak 3-42. B – Simko 4-35, Nash Cuffman 1-7, Tyson Pino 3-33, Marcus Vicari 1-35, Klemz 1-6, Nash Cuffman 1-9, Baggetta 1-16.
Passing: WP – Bordas 10-for-14, 121 yards, 1 TD. Wack 1-for-1, 23 yards. B – Baggetta 11-for-24, 125 yards, 2 INT, Pino 1-for-1, 16 yards.
Interceptions: WP – Jed Hunley, Dobrzynski-Hines. B – Pino.
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