Wheeling, W. Va. - The Wheeling University Football team (2-4, 1-3) has been on the road for the majority of the season, with three of their last five games coming on the road. On Saturday, they flip the script, with three of their final five games coming at home. They kick-off the stretch on Saturday when they host West Virginia State with kick-off scheduled for noon, as the Cardinals look to get back on track.

Last time out, the Cardinals went on the road to face the top team in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) in the University of Charleston. In the first quarter, the Golden Eagles proved why they were the top team in the conference, scoring touchdowns on each of their first two drives to take a 14-0 lead. The Cardinals got their momentum going with a touchdown to start the second quarter, and got to within a one-score game at 14-7. However, the potent Charleston offense just kept scoring and went into halftime leading 28-7. After being held down in the first half, the Cardinal offense came through in the second half, putting up 16 points over the final 30 minutes of play. Despite outscoring the Golden Eagles 16-14 down the stretch, the damage had been done as Charleston went on to win 42-23.

Leading the way on offense was Chris Charles, who finished with five catches, for 75 yards and a touchdown. He scored the second touchdown of the second half started with the Cardinal's second touchdown of the day and his third touchdown of the season. It tied him with teammate Tre Holloway for the team lead in receiving touchdowns and he sits second on the team in receiving yards (385), yards per catch (14.81), and yards per game (64.17). Charles has been a consistent presence in the passing game, sitting as the Cardinal's second leading target this season and has pulled in five or more catches in each of the past two games and looks to continue to be a top target for the Cardinals this season.

On the defensive side, it was a career day for Masiah Thorne as he led the team's defensive effort. He set a new career-high with nine tackles on the day, eight solo and one assisted, to lead the Cardinal effort. Thorne has stepped up as the team's starting free safety this season and Saturday's game marked the second time this season that Thorne went over the six tackle mark. When it came to short yardage situations, the Cardinals have turned to running back po Green this season. Green scored two of the three Cardinal touchdowns on the day, with both coming in short yardage situations. Green plowed the first touchdown in from one-yard out to start the second quarter, and started the second half scoring with a touchdown from three-yard out in the third.

As they head down the final five-week stretch of the season, the Cardinals are looking to get on a roll. They currently sit seventh in the MEC and are just one game out of being a top four team in the conference. They will face the two teams tied with Charleston for the top spot in the MEC over the next two weeks, as they have a tough stretch ahead of them to end October. With the home and away dates alternating over the last five weeks of the season, Wheeling looks for their first home win of the season, where they currently sit 0-3. With three more opportunities ahead of them, they look to better that record and even their home schedule record by season's end.

The Matchup

The Cardinals and Yellow Jackets are meeting for just the third time in program history, with the all-time series sitting tied at one win a piece. It will be the third time that the two teams have met in Wheeling, with the teams never meeting in Institute, West Virginia. Wheeling is averaging 14.5 points per game in the all-time matchup and will be looking for for back-to-back wins after taking the matchup between the two teams in 2023.

In that last meeting, the Cardinals pulled off a 29-22 victory at Bishop Schmitt Field in a special senior day win. Former Cardinal Tre'Ron Fullerton led the ground game, running for 82 yards, while Dasyn Hores led the receiving corps with five catches for 56 yards. On defense, it was a career day for Caleb Grant, who finished with a career-best 10 tackles, six solo and four assisted, 4.5 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks.

The Details

Kick-off for Saturday's game is scheduled for noon at Bishop Schmitt Field. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.