Burgfan Blog

The Wheelersburg Football Pirates took to the gridiron at Ed Miller stadium this past Saturday night in an epic re-match of battle royal against Minford. The Falcons snagged a 6 spot in the region where as Wheelersburg came in as the 3rd seed in Region 19. The game almost played out identical from the last match-up; both teams couldn't break the end zone plane in the first half. The falcons had the best shot as they marched deep into Pirate territory, but Burg's defense stiffened up like Gorilla glue on pair of Watsy's shoes. The Falcons had to settle for a Risner pitching wedge between the uprights giving Minford a 3-0 halftime lead. The yellow hankies littered the field once again against these two, 11 penalties total between both teams, 12 if you count the one that fell out of the back judges pocket as he was trying to catch up with the Hedgehog. In the second half, Makaya" hedgehog" Matthews got be...

If you're a BurgFan, then this weekend brought you plenty to cheer about. First the Pirate football team captured their 6th consecutive SOC championship trophy by beating West 41-7. Then, the Lady Pirate volleyball team squared off in the regional championship against Berlin Hiland on Saturday in Logan. Photo: Ruth Boll The lady Pirate volleyball team found themselves in a rare place Saturday as they fell behind Berlin two sets in the best of five series. Coming in they had an amazing 73 set win streak. To put that into perspective, they hadn't lost a set the entire season, let alone a match. The Lady Pirates could've folded in, but Coach Allen Perry called a timeout in the third set and composed his troops; and in the third set, the Pirates rallied for a 26-24 set. When that happened, the light bulb went off, and the Pirates began to flex their muscles. The next two sets were in dominating fashion. 25-20, and 15-5. This year the Pirates have been led ...

The Pirates traveled to Lucasville to take on the Valley Indians last Friday night and were able to put up plenty of points while also keeping Valley from scoring as well. The front four defensive lineman have continued to get better. Luke Miller, Seth Denhey, Brady Warner, and Jackson Kouns have used their strength and speed to keep opposing teams from getting to the linebackers, allowing them to come free and make tackles for minimal to no gain. Linebacker Lane Charles had a nice game as he came free a couple of times to make some really strong tackles. Offensive Goes Earlier in the year, I reported that the Pirates needed desperately to move the ball to take pressure off the defense. Burg’s offense has answered the bell. Since Senior Evan Horsley moved to the QB position, the Pirates have averaged close to 40 points a game. The Pirates have been able to get the ball out to their athletes and keep opposing defenses on their toes. Something evident last Friday, as LJ Payton was ab...

If you like offense, then Friday's Burg vs Waverly matchup was the game for you. Burg has been dominating the SOC for several years now. Waverly wanted desperately to end the domination by bringing their high powered offense into Ed Miller stadium and ruin Homecoming for the Pirates. The Pirates were having nothing of it. Opposing teams that face Waverly can't stop Shoemaker, they just have to contain him. I suppose one could say that the Pirates did that, as they forced Waverly to punt a couple of times, but he still managed to rack up a lot of yards and score four touchdowns. But.... truly the night belonged to the Pirate offense and Senior Makaya Matthews. The "Hedgehog" had around 300 total offensive yards with 267 coming on the ground and 3 touchdowns. The Pirates offensive line was outstanding as they plowed rushing lanes for all three senior backs. Hunter Ruby had 72 yards rushing on the night to go along with his 66 yards receiving and 2 touchdowns, and QB...

The Pirates probably had a couple of check marks they wanted to check off their list when they went into last Friday’s contest against Oak Hill. One of the items, to mark off the list, would be could the Pirates get physical enough to stifle a down hill running game. Oak Hill rarely throws the ball, mostly they run right off tackle using their strong line to protect their backs. Pirates not only checked that off the list, they completely dominated the line of scrimmage on the defensive side of the ball. Oak Hill was only able to rush for 71 yards the entire night. Another mark needed to be checked off was being consistent in moving the ball without turnovers or penalties. Senior QB Evan Horsley was called upon to provide some experience for the Pirates. The Burg amassed over 400 yards and lit up the scoreboard with 55 unanswered points.  Evan Horsley accounted for all but two scores by either running, or passing the pigskin. Senior Corey Maxie and Sophomore Aaron Masters finish...

The Pirates can’t seem to find breathing room on their schedule, and such was the case again as Burg found themselves in a crucial battle against SOC foe Minford last Friday night. For once, the air felt cool and crisp, perfect weather for a high school football game. Marred by frequent yellow flags on both sides of the ball which basically hindered the flow of the game, the Pirates were able to come away with an all important conference victory against the falcons. Minford came into the contest with one of the top offenses in the area. Their big play capability was evident immediately as Minford running back Wiget found a hole and bursted towards the end zone. It looked as if he was going to score rather easily but Senior Makaya Matthews caught up from behind and stripped the ball, resulting in a turnover as the ball went out of the back of the end zone for a touchback. For the next quarter in a half, penalties plagued both teams as neither could get going offensively, but the s...

The Wheelersburg Pirates have been through a gauntlet of competition in the first part of the season which finally comes to an end as the Pirates lose last week to rival Jackson. Like the Ironton game, the score didn’t indicate the effort that the Pirates gave, but once again another D3, 4-0 team found their way on the winning side. Burg’s schedule is considered 10th strongest in Division 5. The Pirates would like to take a breather but they open up with the Minford Falcons this Friday, and Minford holds an unblemished record. The falcons have two impact players on the offensive side of the ball, something the Pirates are probably getting tired of trying to defend.  If anything proves true, their experience against such an attack should put them in a more favorable advantage compared to the opponents Minford has faced so far. In order to take down the falcons, the Pirates must put points on the board. If the Pirates can’t control the time of possession, they may be heading back...

The Pirates took a short bus trip to Greenup County to take on the 2-2 musketeers. The musketeers fielded arguably the best quarterback in the area in senior Eli Sammons. Eli has committed to Marshall. For the first three games, the Pirates had to contend with strong running teams, but this week, they had to defend a spread passing attack. Outside of a couple of missed opportunities, the Greenup Musketeers could only muster up 7 points, far from their average that was yielding well over 21 points per contest. The Pirates held Sammons to less than 50% passing and picked off two interceptions to boot. On the offensive side of the ball, the Pirates have continued to improve. The offensive line of Blair, Goode, Welch, Richardson and Johnson have been solid from the start while the QB spot has taken some time to develop.  Aaron Masters had a solid performance against Greenup throwing for two touchdowns and running for another. Clark and Vastine were both on the receiving ends of Mas...

Like a heavy weight champion up against the ropes, the Wheelersburg Pirate football team fought back in one of the most exciting high school matchups ever witnessed, and it came from 45 yards away. The Ashland Tomcats walked confidently into Ed Miller stadium with a 3-0 record and a Kentucky state ranking. Their offense was putting up video game numbers while throttling their opponents on the defensive side of the ball. Meanwhile, the Pirates were trying to heal up players and figure out ways to get the offense going after starting out 0-2, something  of rare sorts in Burg football. Early in the game it looked as if the team and the fans were going to suffer through a long season after QB Aaron Masters threw a tough pass into coverage. The pass was intercepted the length of the field for Ashland’s second touchdown of the night, taking a commanding lead 13-0. That’s when the headset came flying off of Coach Woodward and a little heart to heart happened on the sideline. One c...

The other fall sports at Burg have been very successful at the start of their perspective seasons. Girls’ volleyball and Boys’ soccer currently hold undefeated records while the lady Pirate soccer team has suffered one loss. The cross country team has done very well too bringing home several medals. Boys Soccer The boys socccer team led by Coach Jon Estep has been winning with a great balance of defense and offense. Goal Keeper Eric Green has defended just under a goal per game defensively with 36 saves while Aaron Jolly has led all scoring with 17 goals. Jacob Saxby is leading with assists. The boys are 8-0 overall with a 4-0 SOC record. They will be hosting rival Minford this Thursday at home. Girls a Soccer The girls soccer team led by Coach Todd Jarvis have a record of 6-1 and undefeated in SOC play. Chelsee Steele leads all scorers with 13 goals while Jordan Jennings and Laney Eller lead with 6 assists apiece. Goal keeper Morgan Bivens has recorded 23 saves. They will also...

Most people on the outside looking in see an 0-2 Pirate football team that is in danger of having an abysmal season, but those who are knowledgeable of the current situation, see a dangerous, talented team trying to get healthy and find their identity. Burgfan got to speak with some coaches after last Friday’s game and they were very pleased by some of the effort they saw from the film, especially defensively, which is good news because the team fielded multiple backup players filling in for injured players. Taking on Bishop Hartley was a daunting task within itself, let alone taking them on with a team with multiple injuries. In fact, it’s been said that the head coach of the Hawks believes this is the best team that he’s ever fielded. Nevertheless, the Pirates fought hard after a shaky start against D3 Hartley.  Hartley controlled the game from start to finish but one drive came easy for the Hawks from a nice return on the opening kick off , and one drive came off a Pirate turn...

The Wheelersburg football team has faced adversity before and will have to do so again as they take on Bishop Hartley this Friday night at Ed Miller stadium.  The Pirates lost last week to ironton 30-6 but don’t let the score mislead you.  Ironton held a 3-0 lead heading into half which looked to be shaping up for a defensive battle, but then Ironton came out and put a scoring drive together to capture  the first touchdown of the evening. Wheelersburg responded back as Makaya Matthews broke off a long run from the tail back position. After the P.A.T went left, the score was 10-6 mid third quarter. A monsoon began to fall and things started going south for the Pirates. Pirates forced two fumbles on Ironton’s next drive but unfortunately for the Burg, they landed back into the enemy’s hands. Ironton was able to punch it in and make it 17-6. After that score, the injury bug began to bite as two key players for the the Pirates had to exit the contest forcing the coaching st...