Story byThe Portsmouth Daily Times, OhioKevin Colley, The Portsmouth Daily Times, OhioSat, December 6, 2025 at 2:17 AM UTC·12 min readThere are many important elements to a bus for it to run correctly. Engine, transmission, tires, gas, brakes, etc. All of those elements and more have to function properly at the right times for a bus to continue to be usable and in commission. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOver the past 12 years, the Wheelersburg football program has been that bus that has continued to remain in commission — posting one notable and lengthy playoff run after another since 2013. Now, the bus is fully gassed up and ready to roll to its final destination — Canton. For the second time in eight years, the boys are back in town — literally and figuratively — in arguably the greatest home of football there is. Like the 2017 group that came before them those eight years ago, this Wheelersburg football team in 2025 is also undefeated. Like the 2017 group before it, the 2025 group will also be going up against another undefeated team on the opposite side of it in Liberty Center, who has been one of OHSAA Division V’s best football programs since making the jump up from Division VI to Division V in 2022 — going 14-1 with a state semifinal appearance in 2022 and 15-1 each of the last two seasons with OHSAA Division V State Runner-Up showings in each, with both of its losses being by just seven and 11 points respectively. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIt sets up yet another clash of two football heavyweights in one of the greatest football palaces that one could ever hope to play on.“This is the dream,” Wheelersburg head football coach and athletic director Rob Woodward said. “So many of these seniors lived it as young fans of Wheelersburg when they were nine, 10 years old and on down.
