Wheeling University Lands WVU QB Transfer
Head Coach Zac Bruney has been very busy building the Cardinal football program. He has landed his first quarterback transfer, in Trent Jackson. The Stevensville, Maryland native will have three years of eligibility remaining for the Cards. Jackson comes to Wheeling by way of WVU. He joined the Mountaineer’s as an invited walk-on but didn’t see any game action. The Kent Island High School product threw for over 2,000 yards his senior season and was named 1st Team All-Conference.
As for the Mountaineers, this move along with the departure of former starter Austin Kendall leaves WVU with four quarterbacks on the spring roster. Redshirt Senior, Jarret Doege, took over for Kendall last season and will more than likely take the reigns this season. He’ll be pushed by promising redshirt freshman, Garrett Greene who saw limited action last season, as well as a redshirt sophomore, Matt Cavallaro, and true freshman Will Crowder.
Jackson was the second quarterback to enter the transfer portal and land a spot in the Ohio Valley in the past two seasons. Jack Allison, a once Top 25 QB recruit, began his career at Miami, before transferring to WVU and now is wearing the black and gold of West Liberty.
The Cardinal’s 2020 season was moved to the Spring of 2021 because of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Wheeling’s first official season was led under center by Tucker Strachan. After one season at the helm, Strachan elected to transfer to Shippensburg. This led the way for talented National Christian Academy product Jalen Lea and former Indian Creek star Brennan Norris to battle it out this season. Both signal-callers appeared in three games each for Wheeling who compiled a 2-2 record this spring. Lea threw for 555 yards and 8 touchdowns, while Norris who missed his senior season of high school due to an injury collected 84 yards and a touchdown in relief of Lea. Jackson will look to compete with Lea and Norris for the starting quarterback position.
The Cardinals picked up impressive victories this season over rival West Liberty (42-19) and conference newcomer, Alderson Broaddus (34-6). The Cards dropped a hard-fought contest to Frostburg State 27-20 to begin the season. The final game of the season saw Wheeling go up against Division II national power Notre Dame (OH) and the Falcons flew to a 55-7 victory.