WHEELING — King Football is back!

After almost nine months, the sport makes its triumphant return to the Ohio Valley with the 76th installment of the OVAC Rudy Mumley All-Star Football Game.

The annual summer spectacle unfolds tonight at Wheeling Island Stadium with kickoff slated for 7:15 p.m.

For the 61 players, who have been in camp since last Saturday at Wheeling University, the opportunity to shine one last time as a prep athlete has arrived. And to hear both coaches tell it, their respective teams are more than ready.

“It’s been an incredible week with these kids and actually one of the best experiences I’ve had in football, but we’re ready to play the game,” Ohio head coach Mike McKenzie said. “It’s honestly hard to believe that we’ve only been with these kids five or six days because of how quickly they’ve gelled and picked everything up.”

aJohn Kelley, who is the head coach at University High School in Morgantown, has been amazed with how quickly the week has went.

“It was about late in Wednesday’s practice where it became apparent that these kids were ready to play,” Kelley said. “This whole experience has been fabulous. The only negative is that after (tonight), we won’t get to coach these guys anymore. They’ve been absolutely great kids to be around. They’re funny, well-behaved and everyone gets along.”

Both teams went through their final formal practices on Friday before having the afternoon off and enjoying a pep rally on the Wheeling University campus. Other than packing up their dorm rooms and preparing to move out, both clubs will go through an informal walk through today before getting on the buses to make the short trip to the Island.

“We’ll use the walk through to kill some time because it’s tough for these kids to sit around all day,” Kelley said. “The kids are resilient and will be able to handle that stuff better than the coaches, but we’ll go over our special teams one more time and make sure everyone is on the same page.”

The Ohio squad has been building each day, working on a lot of team drills throughout and that progress has become quite evident to McKenzie.

“We’ve been a little farther ahead with each day and we’ve had very formation or personnel issues,” McKenzie said. “We’ll get out (Saturday) and go over some things to make sure we’re all on the same page personnel wise, especially with our special teams.”

The toughest part for the coaching staffs hasn’t been anything to do with the players. It’s simply knowing much about each other’s opponent. Obviously, University and Beaver Local do not play each other, so both coaches have been in somewhat of a bind in terms of truly what to expect.

“That’s my biggest concern,” Kelley said. “As coaches, we’re all creatures of habit and it’s totally unusual to know basically very little about what the opponent has planned. On top of that, we’ve not seen any of their guys play, so we’re definitely going to be in a feeling-out process early in the game.”

McKenzie expects some significant adjusting on the fly to a degree.

“When we found out we were coaching and (University) was coaching West VIrginia, we scrounged up some film, but it’s nothing like the preparation we do during the season,” McKenzie said. “We’re going in blind on some calls, however, in a sense.”

Every player is going to play a lot in the game and both teams — especially with temperatures to be in the mid 80s at kickoff — will be substituting frequently.

“We want to win, but we want to keep kids healthy,” McKenzie said. “We feel like we can throw a second group on the field and they’ll be just as good as the first group.”

On top of the heat, West Virginia has had to jockey some players around due to injuries. The Mountain State will dress only 29 players.

“We had some kids step up and help the team by volunteering to move positions, and that really helped us,” Kelley said.

McKenzie was non-committal on whether St. Clairsville’s Drew Sefsick or Monroe Central’s Malachi Rose-Burton will get the first series at quarterback. Regardless, both are going to play.

The running back job will be split between Shadyside’s Wyatt Reiman and St. Clairsville’s Jacob Jordan.

The receiving group, which McKenzie raved about, will be led by St. Clairsville’s Colin Oberdick, Harrison Central’s Trevor Carman, Barnesville’s Spencer Bliss and Shadyside’s Mason VanNest.

Up front, Steubenville’s Greg Mamula will anchor the line at center. St. Clairsville’s Joey Balgo and Steubenville’s Ja’Lin Harris are the guards, while Fort Frye’s Casey Brooker and Martins Ferry’s Peyton Hores will open at tackles.

The West Virginia defense will counter with Linsly’s Adam Dolata and Brooke’s Daniel Rawson will begin at defensive tackle, while Wheeling Central’s Ayden Baker and University’s Daniel Henderson are the defensive ends.

The linebacking corps will feature Wheeling Park’s duo of Hunter Nixon and Colton Thomas along with Linsly’s Brodie Selmon and University’s Corban Cross.

Park’s Nate Shelek will roam at safety, while Wheeling Central’s Caleb Ratcliffe and University’s Daminn Cunningham.

When the Mountain State has the ball, Madonna’s Santino Arlia will be the quarterback. The featured running back will be Nixon, while Ratcliffe, Cunningham, Weir’s Carson Yobbagy and Magnolia’s Marcus Barnes will get the call at wide receiver.

In the trenches, Brooke’s Jacob Donley will start at center, while Wheeling Park’s Braden Hupp and Oak Glen’s De”Shawn Gray are the guards. Cameron’s Christian Bryan, who Kelley raved about, and Weir’s Myles Rice are the starting tackles.

Ohio’s defense will feature Buckeye Local’s Justin Driscoll and Barnesville’s Gavin Carpenter at tackle. Shadyside’s Ryan Florence and Bellaire’s Timmy O’Grady are the ends.

The linebacking group will feature Steubenville’s Brandon Kinney, Buckeye Trail’s Aiden Snodgrass, Union Local’s Dakota Hess and Cambridge’s Caden Kenworthy.

The outside linebackers will see the likes of River’s Austin Creamer, Beaver Local’s Nathan Sprouse, Bellaire’s Jaiden Kesterson and Reiman roaming.

Frontier’s Tanner Bills, Beaver Local’s Dorian Jackson and River’s Brody Longwell are expected to serve as the defensive backs.

Ohio’s kicker is St. Clairsville’s Lucas Otto and Weir High’s Jacob Morgan will handle the placements and punting for West Virginia.

OVAC NOTES

Ohio’s captains are Oberdick, Hess, Reiman and Rose-Burton. The West Virginia captains are Nixon, Dolata, Thomas and Cross.