GLEN DALE — John Marshall will be bringing a 3-1 record to its home field Friday as it prepares to take on Parkersburg South at 7 p.m. The school from Glen Dale began its 2018 season with three straight wins leaving its mark against University 35-28, taking a narrow victory against Mountain Ridge 26-25, and then defeating Preston High in a grand 47-14 finish. The Monarchs just took their first loss against Bellaire (Ohio) last week, 37-7, but head coach Jason Willis believes they are more than capable of adding another tally to their wins this weekend. “Our first three games we played pretty well.” said Willis. “If we play like what we’re capable of playing I think we’ll do alright.” On the other side of the field is the Patriots, who will be arriving at John Marshall’s turf with a 2018 record so far of 2-2. South will be looking to ignite a hot steak after just coming off a strong win against Princeton, where it prevented the Tigers from scoring all game, 37-0. Coach Willis knows of South’s ground game with senior running back Nick Yoho, whom last week rushed for 58 yards and scored two touchdowns. “They mixed it up and they’re really good on running the ball.” said Willis. The Patriots’ ground game doesn’t stop with Yoho. Instead, South’s strategy builds upon its offensive successes and another aspect of that comes from senior quarterback Brayden Mooney. Last week against Princeton, Mooney rushed for 59 yards of his own, going 15 for 27 in passing for 128 yards. The 6-1, 200-pound QB ran it to the end zone twice sharing a solid performance with his fellow senior classmate and teammate Yoho. “When the ball’s not in Mooney’s hands it’s generally in Yoho’s hands.” said South’s head coach Mike Eddy. “These two guys are extremely important to us, but also we have a lot of experience out there on the football field. Our guys have an understanding at what we’re trying to accomplish in our play calling.” John Marshall has seven returning defensive linemen from last year playing this 2018 season and on the offensive side coach Willis expects senior QB Jordan Wood and senior running back Charles McCool to show up for their team against the Patriots. The Monarch head coach anticipates a big defensive game from his players. “We have to stay confident in our defense.” said Willis. “Watching them [John Marshall football team] on film they got a lot of speed. They get to the ball on defense and we’re getting physical.” The last time the two schools met John Marshall ended up taking a victory, 40-17.