Wheeling, W. Va. – It all came down to the final weekend of the regular season as the Wheeling University Football team (5-6, 4-4) was one of four schools competing for a share of the 2026 Mountain East Conference (MEC) Championship. The Cardinals would welcome in West Liberty University in the annual "The Battle for Wheeling" game, with Wheeling needing a win and a Charleston loss to West Virginia State to earn a share of the 2026 conference title. The Hilltoppers would end up being the ones to get on the board early, and the Cardinals were unable to catch up, falling 56-21 to bring the season to a close.
The Cardinals would receive the opening kick-off, but an early turnover would come back to bite them as they fumbled the ball on their own 33 yard line. The hilltoppers would need just four plays to find the end zone when quarterback Kohl Meisman found Levi Gullion On a 4-yard touchdown pass. The extra point would sail through the uprights, and West Liberty was out to a 7-0 lead. Wheeling's offense would come back out on the field and made an immediate statement on the first play of the drive. Landon Lutz would go off tackle for a 32-yard run that set the Cardinals up in West Liberty territory. However, they would be forced to punt and West Liberty would once again get the ball in their own 25-yard line. 10 plays and 75 yards later, West Liberty would find the end zone for the second time on the day, with the MEC's leading rusher taking it in from 8 yd out to extend the hill topper lead to 14-0.
That would be the score at the end of the first quarter, but West Liberty would have the ball and drove into the second quarter. With 10:28 to go before halftime, Patterson would score his second touchdown of the half and the hilltoppers would lead 21-0. Wheeling would need a response and got one on their very next Drive taking the ball down to the West Liberty one yard line. They would put the ball in the hands of Ayden McKinstry, who fought his way across the goal line for the first Cardinals score of the day. Conor Fitzpatrick came on for the extra point and Wheeling cut the West Liberty League to 21-7. It started a string of three straight scoring drives between the two teams, with Patterson's third rushing touchdown giving West Liberty a 28-7 lead with 4:58 to go before the break. As the first half clock ticked down, Wheeling's defense would come through with a big stop, as Awwal Osinuga forced to fumble that was recovered by Carter Blake.
The Cardinals would have the ball in West Liberty territory, but were forced to punt from midfield. The Cardinal's special teams unit would come through with a big play, as the ball touched a West Liberty player before Will James grabbed the ball in the endzone for the Cardinal touchdown. It brought things back to a two score game with 48 seconds before halftime and the Cardinals trailing 28-14. However, West Liberty had one more trick up their sleeve as Meisman found the end zone before halftime and the Cardinals went into the locker room trailing 35-14. The Hilltoppers would receive the second half kick-off and picked up right where they left off, driving 77 yards in 10 plays to make it a 42-14 game at the 9:10 mark of the third quarter. Wheeling would follow suit on their first drive of the second half, with a connection between Lutz and Colin Oberdick moving the ball down field. The two would connect on a 28-yard completion that got the Cardinals into Hilltopper territory, and they would meet again with Wheeling on West Liberty's eight-yard line.
Lutz would find Oberdick once again on a crossing route in the end zone, and Fitzpatrick added the extra point to get Wheeling back on the board. The score sat at 42-21 with 6:35 to go in the third, and the Cardinals remained within striking distance. However, it would end up being the day for Patterson as on the next drive he almost took the ball to the end zone by himself. His fifth rushing touchdown of the day made it 49-21 West Liberty and that is where the score sat at the end of the third quarter. Over the final 15 minutes, West Liberty would find the end zone one more time and both teams would go to their bench to finish the game. West Liberty would end up winning. 56-21, and earning a share of the 2026 MEC football championship. For the Cardinals, they would finish 5-6 overall, including a 4-4 record in conference play as 2026 came to an end.
Leading the offense for Wheeling was redshirt senior Landon Lutz, who finished the day 12-28, throwing for 127 yards and a touchdown. It wrapped up a historic season for Lutz, who set the single season passing record throwing for 2331 yards on the season. His top Target was Colin Oberdick, who pulled in six catches for 75 yd and a touchdown, while Landyn Hores and Mateo Crummel each added two catches. Ayden Mckinstry would lead the Cardinal ground attack, carrying the ball 11 times for 61 yd and a touchdown. Dillon Shadie would lead the defensive effort with 11 total tackles, two solo and nine assisted, to round out the day.
The Wheeling University Football team Now heads into the off-season as they look to build on this year's success and once again compete for an MEC Championship in 2027.
