Wheelersburg Ends Barnesville Again

WHEELERSBURG - The Pirates do it again on Friday night against Barnesville.

On Friday, November 14, 2025, the Pirates were set to take on the Barnesville Shamrocks once again in the OHSAA Division 5 Playoffs. This is now four consecutive times the Pirates and Shamrocks have faced off in the postseason, and the Pirates have won the last three meetings.

On the first drive of the night, Barnesville drove the ball straight down the field to strike first on the scoreboard. The Shamrocks attacked the Pirates on the ground quickly, gashing the strong Wheelersburg defensive front. But Wheelersburg adjusted and began sending pressure up the middle. As Barnesville appeared to be stopped in their tracks, Junior Quarterback Cole Francis scrambled from the left side of the field to the right side of the field and launched a deep ball down the right sideline. Senior Wide Receiver Jack Anderson caught the ball just prior to falling out of bounds to put the Shamrocks on the goal line. A couple plays later, Sophomore running back Trey Toliver punched it over goal line for a Shamrock touchdown.

Wheelersburg responded though with gashing rushes by Elijah Brown and Stephen Hall. As the Pirates entered the redzone, Senior Quarterback, Braylon Rucker put the Shamrock defenders on skates while on his way to the Pirates first touchdown. Wheelersburg would then convert a two-point conversion to take the lead and seemingly, the momentum.

Once again, the Pirates adjusted on the defensive end and came away with a stop. Once Wheelersburg's offense went back out on the field, it did not take them long to add to their lead as Stephen Hall would score up the middle. This gave the Pirates a 15-7 lead heading into halftime.

The second half was all Wheelersburg as the Pirates would hold the Shamrocks to just 6 points. Wheelersburg started off the second half by forcing Barnesville to punt the ball away. Pirates' RB Stephen Hall appeared to be on a mission as he would score his second touchdown to increase the Pirates lead to 22-7.

Barnesville did not go away quietly as Trey Toliver would score his second touchdown of the ballgame. But the Wheelersburg offensive rushing attack was much too strong as they would tack on two more touchdowns. These came on the ground with Braylon Rucker scoring his second touchdown and Senior Running Back Elijah Brown scoring his first. Wheelersburg would stand strong late in the third quarter and the entire fourth quarter as they went on to win 36-13.

After Nelsonville-York came away with a win over Gahanna Columbus Academy, this set up the Region 19 Final between the Buckeyes and the Pirates.

With both teams coming in at 12-0 on the season, it appears that this game has the potential be one for the ages. This game is set to take place Friday, November 21st at Hamilton Township High School just south of Columbus, Ohio.