Category: SOC2

That’s because Zaler, a standout two-way lineman for the Valley Indians.. Inks with Fairmont State University

LUCASVILLE — Mason Zaler admitted the past two years —off the football field anyway —were some trying times.

However, he said his official signing on Wednesday has already brought him happiness he has been wanting — and anticipates the next four years continuing to do so.

That’s because Zaler, a standout two-way lineman for the Valley Indians, officially announced his intention to play college football for Fairmont State University —an NCAA Division II program located in Fairmont, W. Va.

Zaler — at his signing ceremony inside the Valley High School gymnasium — was flanked by his parents, Matt and Claudia Zaler; Valley High School head football coach and athletic director Darren Crabtree; several of his Indian teammates; and other family members and friends.

Zaler’s signing was one of four involving Scioto County football players on Wednesday —as part of the annual National Signing Day across the country.

Zaler, recruited to the Falcons as a defensive lineman —mainly at tackle but also an end —spoke candidly of what his signing meant to his well-being.

He has endured the passing of two grandparents in the past two years, and so with the ink drying on his official national Letter-of-Intent —perhaps some shed tears will dry up as well.

“This is one of the best things to ever happen in my life,” said Zaler. “I’ve had a lot of disappointments and loss in the past couple of years. Something like this has almost brought me out of a depression kind-of-thing. I lost my grandfather when I was a sophomore and then I lost my grandmother when I was a junior. It’s really brought a lot more happiness.”

And being happy with his college choice, aside from playing football, that meant choosing an institution where education was of the utmost importance.

The six-foot, six-inch, 255-pounder picked Fairmont State over offers he received from Wittenberg University, Thomas More College and Lake Erie College, because “as a person, at Fairmont State, I feel better.”

“I had to look at this from where if I wasn’t going to go play football, I would have to stay there all four years and get a degree. I felt Fairmont State was the best fit for me. They have a winning program, they have a great coaching staff and great facilities. I feel like I can be the best player I can be there,” said Zaler.

The Falcons are coached by Jason Woodman, a native of Fairmont, who is entering his eighth season in 2020.

The program is a member of the Mountain East Conference, having won multiple conference championships in the past — and coming off a 5-5 season in 2019, but having won its final four games.

“They bring in some of the best players throughout the nation to come play for a Division II school, and they can all play at Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision),” said Zaler.

The MEC consists of primarily schools from West Virginia, although Urbana University is a member — as fellow two-way Scioto County lineman Joe Igaz of Portsmouth West announced on Wednesday his intention to play there (see related story), along with former Sciotoville East standout Grant Gifford.

The Falcons’ five losses were by a combined 33 points, including a 41-34 defeat to Frostburg State in double overtime.

The Falcons surrendered some points on the defensive of the ball, but not yards against the run, according to Zaler.

He said he should fit in well with the Falcons’ four-man front, featuring two ends and two tackles.

Sometimes, he said, they shift to a “50” —or five-man —front.

“They like to get a lot of pressure with the defensive line. They like to play nickel with their linebackers, but bring a lot of pressure,” said Zaler. “And they want to stop the run. They held teams to an average of 77 rushing yards per game last year. They like to stop the run and hit the quarterback.”

Zaler was an offensive tackle on that side, but said he prefers to play defense, as he was selected as an all-Southeast District Division VI first-team lineman his senior season.

He made 60 total tackles, including 26 solo, along with a fumble recovery and three sacks.

“Mason provided a ton of leadership on both sides of the ball this year. He had a tremendous year, and really came on the second half of the season as a defensive lineman. He made a number of big plays for us. It was nice to see him grow from where he was as a freshman to his ability and strength and different things this past year,” said Crabtree. “It gave him the opportunity where he has the ability to go play at the next level.”

Zaler was a four-year player for the Indians, and a two-year starter.

“I just like playing defense better. I always like to hit people and play physical. I just love playing physical” he said.

But being more physical at the collegiate level requires more strength, as Zaler said he plans to put on at least 15 to 20 pounds prior to leaving for Fairmont —and improve his overall upper-body.

Zaler said he and his family have hired a personal trainer, “so we can train all throughout the spring and summer before we go up for team camp”.

“Definitely upper-body strength I need to work on. My bench press isn’t the greatest. Maybe a little bit of foot speed, quickness and agility, stuff like that,” he said. “My goal when I go up there is to be about 270 or 275 (pounds). Put on about 15 or 20 pounds of muscle.”

Crabtree commented on Zaler’s strengths that will aid him in making the jump to the much-faster college game.

“Mason has great lateral movement and reads things very well. He has an aggressive personality where he makes a lot of plays just running to the football. He will have his work cut out for him coming from a small school like Valley to go to a Division II school, but the opportunity presented itself, and he knows what it takes to get himself ready to go at the next level,” said the coach. “I think he will be able to do that.”

Fairmont State is also Crabtree’s alma mater, as he believes Zaler “will represent Valley very well there”.

Zaler discussed the family-like atmosphere the Indian program provided him.

“To play for Coach Crabtree was really special. When my dad was a sophomore in high school, it was Coach Crabtree’s first year. (Valley assistant) Coach (Jason) Fell’s son, Connor, is in my graduating class. We’ve been best friends since first or second grade. All of the assistant coaches just accepted me in and made me the best player I could be,” he said. “It felt like family.”

Zaler said he plans to major in nursing, and —in his opinion — his signing provides some daylight at the end of a personal dark tunnel.

“There have been some tough times recently, but I am really excited about this,” he said.

Pirates’ Matthews inks with Oilers

‘Burg standout signs with D-II Findlay

By Paul Boggs

 

 

WHEELERSBURG — For Makya Matthews, his wardrobe won’t change too much.

That’s because Matthews, the Wheelersburg High School all-purpose standout, will remain in Orange and Black, but made it official on Wednesday with his announcement to play college football for the University of Findlay.

Matthews, a soft-spoken senior whose outstanding performances on the football field did his talking, was flanked at his signing ceremony by his mother Sara Fry; several other family members; Wheelersburg High School head football coach Rob Woodward and almost the entire Pirate team — of which he was the most recognized from the 2019 campaign.

Matthews was one of 32 recruits from Ohio which signed to play for Findlay, according to a university press release on Wednesday — in conjunction with the annual National Signing Day all across the country.

Matthews — who played and can play almost any and all of the skilled positions — moves on to play for the Oilers, an NCAA Division II school located in Findlay and a member of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.

The Oilers are coached by Jason Keys, who is entering his 10th season leading the program.

For Matthews, in the Wheelersburg High School foyer full of enthusiastic supporters, he simply yet politely replied “yes sir” when asked about his excitement of playing college football.

He said Findlay was his first official visit, and he “just loved the coaching staff and talked to a few players and they liked it a lot too”.

“It was pretty much Findlay all the way for me,” said Matthews. “Their offense is very similar to ours. It’s an RPO (run-pass option) style. I’ll play the slot and hopefully contribute.”

Matthews said he was being recruited to Findlay for the wide receiver position, primarily the slot spot, although on his biographical information in the press release it lists him as a five-foot nine-inch, 172-pound running back.

But no worries, Pirate and Findlay fans, for Matthews is indeed your truly defined all-purpose player.

In fact, he was a three-time all-Southeast District Division V first-team honoree —at three different positions.

As a sophomore, as part of the Pirates’ 2017 Division V state championship squad, he made all-district as a defensive back —but landed on the list on the offensive side for his final two seasons, as an all-purpose pick as a junior and as a running back as a senior.

While making first-team all-district automatically earned him Special Mention all-Ohio accolades, he was a first-team all-state selection in 2018 and again in 2019.

Following up the undefeated 15-0 state championship year, the Pirates went 13-1 and reached the state semifinals again —before rallying from a 2-3 start last year by sweeping through the Southern Ohio Conference Division II again and advancing to the regional semifinals.

Matthews had a large hand in the success of all three seasons.

“Makya has been a special player in our varsity program, but even before that at the younger levels, he was always a hard worker with the group that he has come through with. People have recognized his talent,” said Woodward. “As he came in as a freshman, I remember recognizing he had a special ability and his hand-eye coordination with the ball was something that was extremely explosive. And the group of guys he had around him, they all just had a hunger and a drive to work towards excellence. Makya was really a catalyst for all of that. While he doesn’t say a lot, his hard work on and off the field is infectious to everyone he is around.”

For those into career statistics, Matthews’ are astonishing in all three phases.

Defensively, in actually twice being named the SOC Division II Defensive Player of the Year (2018 and 2019), he made 147 tackles and 12 pass deflections with 10 interceptions —two of which he returned for touchdowns.

He also forced five fumbles and made one recovery, as Woodward went on to say that “he made plays on balls his sophomore year that we hadn’t seen from a free safety in a number of years.”

Matthews made headway with his offensive production that same season — to the point where he became a major impact player.

So much so that he had the game-tying touchdown in the state championship game against Pemberville Eastwood.

He caught 105 passes for 1,791 yards and 20 touchdowns, and averaged exactly 17 yards per reception, while also carrying the football 213 times for 1,436 yards — and scoring 21 rushing touchdowns while averaging 6.7 yards per carry.

He also developed a knack for special special teams returns, amassing 611 yards on 24 kickoffs for an average of 25-and-a-half yards, while taking back three punts to the house —part of 55 returns for 804 yards and 14.7 yards per return.

Including his interception returns, and his four pass completions for 96 yards and one TD, Matthews was responsible for 47 touchdowns in his decorated Wheelersburg career.

He finished with 4,738 all-purpose yards, which —with his interception return yardage —is only 52 yards shy of 5,000.

“I liked playing wide receiver, but that and running back are really close,” said Matthews. “It’s a different feeling running with the ball down the field, but I also like catching it.”

In the storied tradition of Wheelersburg football, he is only the third Pirate in school history to be a two-time first-team all-Ohioan — and only the fifth player to be named a two-time winner of the Andy Hopkins Most Valuable Player Award.

His three punt returns for touchdowns are a Wheelersburg career record, as he is fourth all-time in career receiving yards (1,791) and receiving touchdowns (20), fourth all-time in career all-purpose yards (4,738), and fifth all-time in career TDs (47).

“Makya took on greater roles on offense over his last two years while continuing to play and excel on defense. Then he came on even more in special teams with the skill sets that he has,” said Woodward. “He is just an outstanding young man, both on the field and in the classroom. He works extremely hard and is gifted with intelligence and work ethic. It’s really going to carry him on through his college career.”

Matthews said his four years as a Pirate prepared him well to be an Oiler.

“Being here at Wheelersburg was honestly great preparation for college,” he said. “Just the work we put in and the style that we do everything. It proves that success comes with all that hard work.”

But Matthews is also quite talented, and intelligent, too.

He said he plans to major in pharmacy, while wide receiver and/or running back he can play both, Woodward expects him to make a serious special teams impact.

“I think Findlay will find he is really gifted and will help give them depth as a return specialist. Both kickoffs and punts. Receiver or running back, he is great about catching the ball behind the line of scrimmage, which a lot of times is just an outside run for teams in today’s offenses,” said the coach. “We are very excited about him going on to the next level and we think Findlay has picked up a great player in Makya, both for football and academically.”

One thing is for sure for Matthews at Findlay — he won’t have to trade in any Orange and Black.

Ridgewood’s revenge

vs

Results

Team1234TOutcome
Ridgewood14147742Win
Wheelersburg307717Loss
Ridgewood’s revenge: Pirates fall 42-17 to Generals in Region 19 semi
By Paul BoggsLANCASTER — Unfortunately for the Wheelersburg Pirates, Ridgewood’s revenge was served quite cold.
In the fifth all-time meeting between the Pirates and undefeated Generals on Saturday night, in the Division V Region 19 semifinals at a frigid Fulton Field in Lancaster, the Generals — specifically sophomore quarterback Gabe Tingle — just had all the right moves and made all the big plays.
Tingle, the East District Division V Offensive Co-Player of the Year, torched the Pirates’ pass defense for four touchdowns and 288 yards on 15-of-22 — and second-seeded Ridgewood rolled third-seeded Wheelersburg 42-17 to advance to the Region 19 championship tilt next week.
Tingle, too, paced the Generals in rushing with 93 yards and a 2-yard touchdown run on 16 carries — as Connor Kunze kicked all six Ridgewood extra points, while catching three of Tingle’s TD tosses.
For the Pirates, they had won their first four meetings with Ridgewood — all in the playoffs and all occurring since the 2007 season.
However, the 2019 club wasn’t Wheelersburg’s most highly-touted team of all-time, while many observers of Ridgewood believe this is the best General squad ever.
The Generals are now a perfect 12-0, won their second straight playoff affair over a Scioto County team, and will now face top-seeded and 11-1 Ironton for the Region 19 championship next Saturday night.
Wheelersburg, meanwhile, wraps up its season at 8-4 — and exits the postseason in the regional semifinal for the first time since 2010, as it did not make the playoffs in 2011 and lost to Liberty Union in the regional quarterfinals in 2012.
The Generals also snapped the Pirates’ six-game winning streak, as Wheelersburg had won eight out of nine games entering the regional semi.
But Ridgewood was real good, and actually was involved in its closest game all season — aside from a 31-9 victory over Indian Valley.
“They are a good team, no doubt,” said Wheelersburg coach Rob Woodward, who completed his 12th season at the Pirate helm on Saturday night. “We went into the game knowing we had to stop the run. And low and behold, they went after us in terms of taking some shots downfield. And they converted them. We had to get some stops there and we didn’t. They maintained momentum the whole game and in playoff football, that’s what happens if you are not on top of your game.”
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The Generals scored on their first four possessions and in nine plays or less, and only a kneel-down for the final first-half play prevented a possible larger lead than 28-3 at halftime.
Then, following the Pirates’ 12-play 70-yard four-minute and 11-second scoring drive to open the second half and which featured five first downs, the Generals answered with a similar eight-play, 73-yard four-minute and nine-second drive that ended with a 30-yard touchdown pass from Tingle to Kunze at the 3:25 mark of the third quarter.
Once again, the Generals were up by 25 at 35-10, and Evan Horsley — the Pirate senior quarterback who had both of Wheelersburg’s touchdowns on one-yard runs — was intercepted by Kunze on back-to-back possessions.
The second of those was with 30 seconds remaining in the third quarter and, with Ridgewood starting at the Wheelersburg 9-yard-line after Kunze’s 21-yard return, the Generals were in the end zone again just three plays and a minute and 15 seconds later — on Tingle’s final of four touchdown passes and third to Kunze.
The four-yard pitch-and-catch on a nice back-shoulder throw made it 42-10 just 45 seconds in the fourth quarter, and put the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s running-clock rule into effect — for a mere two minutes and 20 seconds anyway.
Horsley, who paced the Pirates with 92 rushing yards on 18 carries and completed 10-of-21 passes for 138 yards, had his second scoring plunge with 8:40 remaining.
Braxton Sammons successfully made his second extra-point kick to stop the running clock, but after Wheelersburg forced Ridgewood into only its second punt attempt, Horsley was intercepted for the fourth and final time.
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Of course, the Pirates and Horsley had to throw deep and take some second-half chances — after falling behind 28-3 and victim to the Generals’ big plays.
“The shots that we did take downfield that we didn’t convert resulted in worse things for us,” said Woodward. “The shots that they took they converted. Hats off to them for being in the right spot and making good plays on the ball.”
Ridgewood outgained Wheelersburg by almost 200 (315-117) yards in the opening half, including by 140 (225-85) through the air.
In all, while both teams rushed for 123 yards on almost an identical number of carries (35 for Wheelersburg and 34 for Ridgewood), the big difference was in the 150-yard (288-138) and four-touchdown disparity in the passing game.
Both teams ran 56 plays from scrimmage, while the Generals held a 23-14 advantage in first downs.
Following its first first down, on a Tingle completion for nine yards on the game’s second play, Ridgewood went up 7-0 on the fourth play from scrimmage — when Tingle, from the Wheelersburg 49-yard-line, went deep down the middle to a wide-open Koleton Smith.
No Pirate defender was within 10 yards of Smith, as it appeared a safety got lost in coverage — as Smith made the catch on the deep post route and raced into the end zone.
While Kunze caught five passes for 164 yards and a hat trick of TDs, Smith made the most receptions from Tingle — seven for 115 yards.
“The fourth play of the game was just a good job by them schematically. They worked those first three plays setting things up, trying to see what we were in. We had a blown assignment, but a good football team plays that chess match and executes,” said Woodward.
The Pirates did answer, as Matthews — who was held in check rushing with 35 yards on 14 carries but caught six of Horsley’s passes for 87 yards — returned the ensuing kickoff 60 yards to the General 29.
Wheelersburg moved to the 11 and faced a 3rd-down-and-2, but Matthews losing a yard on the next play forced a Sammons 29-yard field goal at the 6:48 mark of the first period.
However, the next two full quarters belonged to Ridgewood, which went up 14-3 just four minutes and nine seconds later.
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The Generals drove nine plays and 67 yards, aided largely on a pass completion from Tingle to Smith to midfield — with a Wheelersburg 15-yard face-mask penalty tacked on.
Kaden Smith finished the march with a four-yard TD run, and the Pirates got no closer the rest of the way.
The Pirates then drove as deep as the General 8-yard-line, thanks largely to Matthews running for 26 yards on a successful fake punt, but a fumbled snap on 3rd-and-5 essentially stalled the drive out — as Matthews’ inside counter run on fourth-down resulted in a turnover on downs.
Two plays later, from his own 1-yard-line in fact, Tingle scrambled and stepped up in the pocket — and found Kunze open behind the Pirate secondary for a 64-yard gain to the Wheelersburg 35.
Tingle then escaped for a 15-yard run to the 15, as the Pirates were whistled for another personal-foul penalty, and Tingle’s 2-yard run at the 8:14 mark made it 21-3 — ending an eventful, but impactful, six-play drive.
The Pirates then drove seven plays to the General 26, as a Horsley pass to Matthews for 27 yards put them inside the 30, but Ridgewood’s Kurtis Varian intercepted Horsley in the end zone at the six-minute mark of the second stanza.
Ridgewood went up 28-3 three-and-a-half minutes later with two-and-a-half minutes left in the half — when Tingle, after already hooking up with Kunze for 39 yards, found him open in the corner of the end zone from 27 yards away.
That capped a seven-play, 80-yard drive, as another Wheelersburg possession which moved to the Ridgewood 33 stalled out after.
But one drive which concluded with precious points was Wheeelersburg’s opening of the third quarter — when the Pirates quickly operated with a no-huddle offense and involved Horsley on all but four of the dozen plays.
The Pirates converted three third downs in the series, as Horsley had a 31-yard sprint up the middle to begin the drive — followed by pass completions to Hunter Ruby for 15 yards to the 13 and to Matthews for seven yards two plays later.
Horsley had the final yard for the score, and Sammons kicked the extra point, putting the Pirates down 28-10 with 7:42 remaining.
But when Wheelersburg forced a punt on the next General possession, it was whistled for a roughing-the-kicker call — resulting in the Ridgewood drive remaining alive and picking up 15 yards and an automatic first down to the Pirates’ 42.
Three plays later, the Generals made the Pirates pay for that penalty — when Tingle’s deep slant pass to Kunze turned into his 30-yard touchdown reception.
“Exactly what we wanted to do was get the ball back in our possession after we scored. Our player was trying to make a play and block the punt, and he made an aggressive mistake. High school players are going to make aggressive mistakes,” said Woodward. “He was trying to do what his job was, which was force the kick. It was at an inopportune time that he happened to run into the punter, but I will never fault a player for trying to do what he can to make a play. It was just at a time when we felt we had an opportunity to take some momentum.”
The Pirates didn’t help themselves with eight penalties for 93 yards — five of which were personal foul calls.
Indeed, Wheelersburg wasn’t at its best on Saturday night, but again enjoyed another strong season.
The Pirates captured their sixth consecutive Southern Ohio Conference Division II championship, and turned around their season after an 0-2 and 2-3 start.
Wheelersburg’s senior class will graduate having played 14 playoff games over four seasons, including the 2017 Division V state championship and last season’s state semifinals.
Its four-year record is an incredible 48-6.
“What a great four-year ride it has been here for these seniors and all the success they have had,” said Woodward. “We were a little thin at times this year with depth, but they have embodied our theme this year, which was ‘Respect the W’. That is to play the game of football the way it is supposed to be played at Wheelersburg High School. I am most proud of what these seniors did during the weeks of practice. The games are fun, but I remember the time spent in preparation for those games and how hard we had to work to go out and have success. This was a successful senior class at Wheelersburg. We had guys step up that needed to when it was time to step up.”
Unfortunately, on one cold night in Lancaster anyway, Ridgewood got its revenge.
“Great turnout by our fans tonight. Pirate Nation was out in full force supporting our kids and that’s all you can ask for,” said Woodward. “I’m proud of the job our guys did together this entire season to get to this point. It wasn’t the way we wanted it to turn out tonight, but hats off to Ridgewood for that.”
* * *
Ridgewood 42, Wheelersburg 17
Wheelersburg 3 0 7 7 — 17
Ridgewood 14 14 7 7 — 42
R — Koleton Smith, 49-yard pass from Gabe Tingle (Connor Kunze kick), 10:17, 1st (7-0 R)
W — Braxton Sammons, 29-yard field goal, 6:48, 1st (7-3 R)
R — Kaden Smith, 4-yard run (Connor Kunze kick), 2:42, 1st (14-3 R)
R — Gabe Tingle, 2-yard run (Connor Kunze kick), 8:14, 2nd (21-3 R)
R — Connor Kunze, 27-yard pass from Gabe Tingle (Connor Kunze kick), 2:32, 2nd (28-3 R)
W — Evan Horsley, 1-yard run (Braxton Sammons kick), 7:42, 3rd (28-10 R)
R — Connnor Kunze, 30-yard pass from Gabe Tingle (Connor Kunze kick), 3:25, 3rd (35-10 R)
R — Connor Kunze, 4-yard pass from Gabe Tingle (Connor Kunze kick), 11:15, 4th (42-10 R)
W — Evan Horsley, 1-yard run (Braxton Sammons kick), 8:40, 4th (42-17 R)
Team Statistics
W R
First downs 14 23
Plays from scrimmage 56 56
Rushes-yards 35-123 34-123
Passing yards 138 288
Total yards 261 411
Cmp-Att-Int. 10-21-4 15-22-1
Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 8-93 5-61
Punts-average 0-0 1-33
——
Individual Leaders
RUSHING —Wheelersburg: Evan Horsley 18-92 2TD, Makya Matthews 14-35, Eli Swords 2-(-7), Hunter Ruby 1-3; Ridgewood: Gabe Tingle 16-93 TD, Isaiah Lamnceck 9-23, Kaden Smith 2-7 TD, Deontae Brandon 2-4, Kigenn Millender 1-1, Team 4-(-5)
PASSING — Wheelersburg: Evan Horsley 10-21-4-138 ; Ridgewood: Gabe Tingle 15-22-1-288 4TD
RECEIVING — Wheelersburg: Makya Matthews 6-87, Hunter Ruby 2-29, Eli Swords 1-19, Gage Adkins 1-3; Ridgewood: Koleton Smith 7-115 TD, Connor Kunze 5-164 3TD, Colten Hursey 1-9, Kaden Smith 1-3, Kurtis Varian 1-(-3)

 

 

 

Ridgewood

CMP ATT INT PYDS TD ATT RUYDS TD REC REYDS TD
00000000000
Sacks Tackles INT FGM FGA
00000

Wheelersburg

# Offense CMP ATT INT PYDS TD ATT RUYDS TD REC REYDS TD
Evan Horsley10214138018922000
Hunter Ruby000001302290
20Gage Adkins00000000130
23Eli Swords000002-701190
29Makya Matthews00000143506870
 Total102141380351232101380
# Defense Sacks Tackles INT FGM FGA
 Total00000

Details

Date Time League Season
November 16, 2019 7:00 pm Playoffs 2019

So we meet again: Pirates play Generals in Region 19 semi

So we meet again: Pirates play Generals in Region 19 semi

By Paul Boggs

FB_IMG_1573743667824.jpg

WHEELERSBURG — We know undefeated Ridgewood is indeed good.

But, in a universe and time when all you need is one more point than your opponent, is Wheelersburg better?
That question is going to be answered for sure on Saturday night, as the 8-3 Pirates — already 4-0 all-time against Ridgewood —play the 11-0 Generals in a Division V Region 19 semifinal, set for 7 p.m. inside upgraded Fulton Field in Lancaster.

Wheelersburg will be playing in its seventh consecutive regional semifinal — all of which have been victories.
But perhaps the Pirates reaching this season’s semifinal has been their most challenging, as Wheelersburg was 0-2 and 2-3 before sweeping through the Southern Ohio Conference Division II slate — en route to its current six-game winning streak.

The Pirates have actually won eight of their last nine games, with their three losses coming to teams with a combined stellar record of 31-2 — all three of which are playing in regional semifinals of their own.

Two of Wheelersburg’s wins were over Minford — a 21-20 overtime triumph to start their winning streak, and again in last week’s regional quarterfinals by a count of 28-23.
Wheelersburg coach Rob Woodward said his Pirates — against Minford just as they have all season — “just continue to show resiliency of facing adversity and learning from it and adjusting to it”.

“Our kids are extremely coachable. Our senior class has worked through so much and been involved in so many big games they understand how to make adjustments and improve,” he said, in an interview on Tuesday. “A lot of people wrote us off after week two of this year. Our kids recognized that, and it left a bad taste in our mouths in terms of how they work to compete. But they have gone out and proven that they are the top team in the SOC II, and now we’re working to prove that we’re a team to contend here in Division V. It’s a huge accomplishment to make the playoffs and win a playoff game. Each round we get here, we’re going to go out and have fun playing the game and keep attacking like we do each and every week. Our kids learn and get better.”

Speaking of better, all the Pirates need to be is one point better than the Generals, but Wheelersburg will need to play better for the game’s entirety than it did against the Falcons.

Despite its second-half success en route to the win, Wheelersburg struggled in the first half and trailed 3-0, and committed eight penalties for 90 yards.

The Pirates must eliminate those mistakes, especially against the Generals’ explosive offense, spearheaded by spread-offense quarterback Gabe Tingle.

In the regular season, Tingle — a 5-foot 11-inch 180-pound sophomore — slung the ball around for 2,052 yards and 22 touchdowns with only two interceptions.
He completed 70-percent of his passes on 99 out of 141 attempts, and also rushed for 726 yards on 83 carries with 15 trips to paydirt.

Tingle was a frontrunner for East District Division V Offensive Player of the Year, as the Generals — which steamrolled through the Inter-Valley Conference — played in nine games with a running clock with six of those 10 tilts featuring the starters not playing a down in the second half.

In the regional quarterfinals against Portsmouth, which the Generals rolled 56-21, Tingle completed a dozen passes on 19 attempts for 233 yards and a hat trick of TDs — and rushed eight times for 71 yards.
Tingle’s rushing statistics trailed only those of Kaden Smith, who had two touchdowns and 81 yards on only nine carries.

Smith caught three passes for 84 yards, while Koleton Smith hauled in all three of Tingle’s TDs— part of his eight receptions for 117 yards.

Portsmouth coach Bruce Kalb, in an interview previewing the Trojans’ playoff game against Ridgewood, said Tingle is the engine that makes the Generals’ machine run.
Woodward concurred.

“Tingle is extremely athletic,” he said. “He’s the controller of all things in terms of their running game and passing game. He is really able to elude defenders with his feet. They spread the ball around a lot because it opens up holes for him to be able to run. And he is great at running the football and makes great decisions. Probably about 50-percent of the time, I would say he is given the go-ahead that if he likes what he sees to throw it, and if he doesn’t, he isn’t afraid just to tuck it and take off and run with it.”

Woodward compared Tingle to Greenup County (Ky.) quarterback and Marshall University signee Eli Sammons as far as a passing threat, while Minford signal-caller Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis best represents the running style that Tingle will present.

The coach added that Ashland (Ky.), which the Pirates rallied to defeat 34-33 in overtime for their initial victory of the season, offers similar speed at the skilled positions.

Tingle’s top receiver is in fact Koleten Smith — a 5-10 170-pound senior who had, in the regular season, 37 receptions for 778 yards and seven touchdowns with a 21.2 yards per catch average.

His lead lineman is six-foot one-inch 237-pound senior tackle John Evin, a three-year starter and second-team all-Ohioan last season.

“This will be our fifth time playing Ridgewood, so we have had experiences with them. I do think that this is one of their best put-together teams in terms of overall talent. They have stout lines, and a few big guys going both ways for them. They have a lot of one-back sets with a lot of things that they do, they show a lot of formations, and they take chances offensively,” said Woodward. “We’ve been put in situations where our players and coaching staff have been challenged to face these types of players and teams. We have to recognize where to best put our players and work towards the execution that it takes.”

Part of that execution, Woodward explained, is good tackling on Tingle.

“Tackling is huge this week because Tingle is extremely elusive and so good at avoiding tacklers with his feet,” said the coach.

The Pirates’ legs will be busy with running the football with Makya Matthews, quarterback Evan Horsley and even wide receiver Hunter Ruby, but Wheelersburg will be facing a stalwart General line.

Zach Prater (6-1, 290, jr.) and Bryce Prater (6-3, 280, jr.) are twin brothers — as Zach has 35 tackles, including eight for loss and five sacks, while Bryce has 23 tackles, including 11 for loss and four-and-a-half sacks.

The ends are Kaden Smith (5-11, 205, sr.) and J.J. Durr (5-11, 215, jr.), combining for 62 tackles, 22 of which were for loss with 11 sacks.

The Generals’ linebacking corps consists of the team’s top two tacklers — Deontae Brandon (6-0, 183, jr.) and Isaiah Lamneck (5-10, 170, sr.).

Brandon was first with 68 tackles including 11 for loss and five-and-a-half sacks, while Lamneck notched 61 tackles with eight for loss and four sacks.

“Their defensive line is stout with the Praters being bodies in the middle that makes it tough to run against,” said Woodward. “Then they have three linebackers that run to the ball well behind them. They are extremely aggressive on defense. They are a good quality football team which you would expect as you get into the second round.”

The Generals are coached by John Slusser, whom Woodward said “he always has good conversations with at coaching clinics and things.”

Both mentors are graduates of Ohio Wesleyan University, although Woodward is 3-0 against the Generals as a head coach — part of 4-0 overall as he was a Pirate assistant in 2007 (21-13).

That was also the last season in which the Pirates played at Lancaster for a playoff bout.

The Pirates also own wins over Ridgewood in 2010 (21-12), 2015 (42-21) and 2016 (37-6), but the perception this time is that Wheelersburg will enter as an underdog — against a General club many in and around West

Lafayette believe may be the program’s best-ever.
For sure, Ridgewood will be the latest quality squad that the Pirates have played this season, joining the likes of 10-1 Ironton, 10-1 Columbus Hartley and undefeated Jackson.

In the SOC II, the Orange and Black beat 7-3 Minford, 8-2 Waverly and 5-5 Valley and Oak Hill.

“We have faced good teams too that have presented a lot of the same challenges. We have to go and attack them (Generals) with the same type of preparation that we put forth throughout this entire year,” said Woodward.

“Good teams are going to have success in moments throughout the game. We have to continue to respond like we did last week and like we have all year. We have to be ready to go out and have a full four-quarter battle.”
The Pirates have had plenty of those while Ridgewood not many, so Wheelersburg will probably play cool under fire — if it comes to that.

“Playoff football is a whole different animal. A lot of factors come into play and teams have to be extremely prepared to go out and be successful,” said Woodward.
For those into counting, Woodward — in his 12th season as head coach — was doing some math, and counted now 28 Pirate playoff games in the last decade.

They will try to make it 29 with a regional championship game appearance, but first things first, they have to be a mere one point better than Ridgewood — regardless of how good these Generals are.

“Our kids understand what it takes to win at this level in a week-12,” said Woodward. “We hope to do it again Saturday night.”

Tigers tussle with Bulldogs in Region 15 semi

vs

Results

TeamTOutcome
Bloom-Carroll49Win
Waverly21Loss

Tigers tussle with Bulldogs in Region 15 semi

By Paul Boggs

 

WAVERLY — Simply put, the Waverly Tigers are at a point where they haven’t been in 12 years.
Now, they aim to be playing a football game beyond 12 weeks.

That’s because the Tigers, competing in their first regional semifinal since back-to-back quarterfinal victories in 2006 and 2007, tussle with the Bloom-Carroll Bulldogs in a Division IV Region 15 tilt on Saturday night.
And, not only is Waverly within striking distance of program history — and playing in its first-ever week-13 — but it is arguably within shouting distance of its home field for this regional semifinal game.

The third-seeded Tigers will play the seventh-seeded Bulldogs just 15 minutes up U.S. Route 23 at Herrnstein Field in Chillicothe, which essentially gives Waverly a de facto home bout.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Bloom-Carroll vs Waverly

00 days 00 hrs 00 mins 00 secs

Like the other 15 teams remaining in Division IV, the Tigers and head coach Chris Crabtree are just happy to be playing in November.

No matter where, and no matter whom.
Instead, the Tigers have a date with history — and perhaps destiny.

Waverly has played in a regional final before, defeating the now-defunct Cincinnati Academy Physical Education (CAPE), but that was back when only four clubs qualified for the state playoffs.

“There’s only been a handful of teams that have won 10 games in a season and won a first-round playoff game. But no team at Waverly has ever won a second playoff game in a season. One thing this group has been good about is accomplishing goals and starting new things and overcoming obstacles. We were really excited for our kids to finally get that monkey off our back and get a playoff win, since it had been a while,” said Crabtree, in an interview on Tuesday. “It would be nice for us to set the bar and move on to the next week and that week be week-13. And we couldn’t ask for a better scenario, to be able to make a short drive (to Chillicothe) and play right up the road. But it doesn’t matter at this point where you win or how you win, as long as you win by one point.

There’s no such thing as an ugly win right now. A win is a win in the playoffs, and the fun is in the winning.”

But Bloom-Carroll — from Fairfield County making the trek southward —is already 1-for-1 in the postseason in winning away from home.

Both teams are 9-2, but the Bulldogs advanced by upstaging second-seeded Indian Valley in a 48-39 slugfest in that regional quarterfinal.

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However, while that was a shootout, Waverly was rolling visiting Gallia Academy with a 40-0 blowout shutout.
While Waverly is better-known for its fast-paced quick-strike spread-the-field offensive attack with 2,000-yard running back and playmaker Payton Shoemaker, it was the Tigers’ defense that did the job against the Blue Devils — forcing five turnovers.

Waverly intercepted Gallia Academy quarterback Noah Vanco four times, as Shoemaker’s midfield interception resulted in a pick-six.

“We expected Gallia Academy to come out and play their best, but never did I imagine that score (40-0) was going to be the turnout,” said Crabtree. “I thought we had a good chance, but to get a shutout in a playoff game like that by a lopsided score is just a testament to our coaching staff and kids as far as their preparation and execution of the gameplan. Any time you can get turnovers especially at that margin of turnovers, it’s going to be good for you.”

The Tigers also recovered a Blue Devil fumble, and Shoemaker only added to his school-record rushing totals with an 18-carry, 146-yard, three-touchdown performance.

One of those three runs was a 72-yard TD sprint.
Shoemaker now has 276 carries for 2,185 yards and 31 touchdowns.

As always, the Tigers’ plan is to establish Shoemaker, opening up the passing attack for junior quarterback Haydn’ Shanks.

“We’ve never been concerned with time of possession. We score quick sometimes, but if we can get a drive that can eat some time up, that’s okay too,” said Crabtree.

“Establishing Payton in the running game early is going to change things one way or the other. A fast start for us is always good.”

But the Bulldogs will counter with a similar spread offense, spearheaded by quarterback and all-around athlete Otto Kuhns.

Kuhns, in the regular season, completed 117 passes on 180 attempts for 1,351 yards — while rushing for 389 yards on 88 carries.

Kuhns has tallied 10 touchdowns passing, six rushing and even one receiving, as Evan Willett — Kuhns’ top target — has 38 receptions for 470 yards.

Kuhns is also the Bulldogs’ punter, having kicked 16 times for an average of 38-and-a-half yards per punt — with four kicks inside the 20-yard-line.

Crabtree compared the Bulldogs’ offense to Minford with their spread-the-field formation sets — and dual-threat ability of Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis.

“Their quarterback is their guy,” said the coach. “He runs the ball and throws the ball for them. They rotate so many people in and out running the ball, so nobody is going to have huge rushing numbers for them. They are very versatile, but the quarterback has had a lot of success there and he makes them go. He is mobile, they move him around, they want to roll him out to get him out there and throw the ball. He is pretty accurate too as a passer. Their routes are a lot of quick and short ones where Kuhns can get the ball out quickly. They can nickel-and-dime you with the pass, the quarterback can pick up first downs when he needs to, and they can take the top off and get downfield if they need do. When they throw deep, they like to roll him out.”

Hobie Scarberry carries the ball when Kuhns does not, amassing 104 carries for 564 yards and seven scores.
Against Indian Valley, the Bulldogs actually were doubled up in time of possession by almost 15 full minutes

(30:38 for IV and 15:49 for B-C), and outgained by a total of 479-336, but Kuhns can strike quickly, as he did in leading several short-timed scoring drives.
Kuhns completed 20-of-26 passes for 205 yards, and threw for two touchdowns.

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He also rushed for three TDs and 83 yards on 13 carries, offsetting the Herculean 39-carry, 261-yard, four-touchdown effort by Indian Valley’s Zach Love.
It helped, too, that Eli Coppess returned a kickoff 80 yards to the house.

“I think it’s a good matchup for us, just because of some familiarity,” said Crabtree. “They like to throw the ball, and they run a lot of 2×2 sets or 3×1 sets, a lot of power and counter, all of which we are very family with and it matches our athletic ability. Bloom-Carroll isn’t very big up front, but they are athletic on both sides of the ball. They only have one guy over 200 pounds on the offensive line, so that is a lot different than from what we’ve seen in the regular season. They do a good job of getting off the ball, getting on you and shielding you off. We have to go out and force those turnovers again this week, and get guys to the ball and prevent big plays from occurring. We have to make sure our coverages are sound again, and we have to get pressure on Kuhns and make him throw in uncomfortable situations.”

The Bulldogs’ lone losses are against undefeated Jonathan Alder of Division III, which plays undefeated Jackson this week in a Region 11 semifinal, and Amanda-Clearcreek — which Waverly walloped 48-13 and which plays Ironton this week in a Region 19 semi.

But Crabtree and the Tigers are not at all taking Bloom-Carroll lightly, as the Bulldogs’ victory over Indian Valley was considered by most observers as an upset.
Bloom-Carroll is making its seventh all-time state playoff appearance, as the Bulldogs defeated Unioto in last season’s Region 15 quarters.

The Bulldogs are now 2-6 all-time in the tournament, while Waverly is 4-7.
“At this level now, the second round of the playoffs, everybody is playing good football and with a lot of confidence,” said Crabtree. “That was a big win for them (Bulldogs) last week, but our kids came out and played well and are obviously very confident in what we’re doing.”

Now, that confidence carries over into the opening kickoff against Bloom-Carroll — and hopefully for the Tigers to a 13th week.

 

Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
-----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
Waverly Tigers......  0  7  0 14  - 21
Bloom Carroll....... 28 14  0  7  - 49



Scoring Summary:
1st 10:48 BC - Cody Harmon 64 yd run (Cameron Shirkey kick)
                                               4 plays, 80 yards, TOP 1:12, WAVERLY 0 - BC 7
    08:05 BC - Otto Kuhns 1 yd run (Cameron Shirkey kick)
                                               3 plays, 5 yards, TOP 1:12, WAVERLY 0 - BC 14
    05:45 BC - Eli Coppess 42 yd pass from Otto Kuhns (Cameron Shirkey kick)
                                              3 plays, 52 yards, TOP 0:53, WAVERLY 0 - BC 21
    03:56 BC - Evan Willet 29 yd pass from Otto Kuhns (Cameron Shirkey kick)
                                              4 plays, 40 yards, TOP 0:51, WAVERLY 0 - BC 28
2nd 10:57 WAVERLY - Will Futhey 42 yd pass from Hayd'n Shanks (Greyson Diener kick)
                                              4 plays, 58 yards, TOP 0:46, WAVERLY 7 - BC 28
    10:08 BC - Josh Evans 6 yd run (Cameron Shirkey kick)
                                              5 plays, 51 yards, TOP 0:48, WAVERLY 7 - BC 35
    03:36 BC - Otto Kuhns 1 yd run (Cameron Shirkey kick)
                                             14 plays, 65 yards, TOP 4:13, WAVERLY 7 - BC 42
4th 11:46 BC - Eli Coppess 57 yd fumble recovery (Cameron Shirkey kick)
                                                                           WAVERLY 7 - BC 49
    08:25 WAVERLY - Will Futhey 21 yd pass from Hayd'n Shanks (Greyson Diener kick)
                                             8 plays, 60 yards, TOP 2:55, WAVERLY 14 - BC 49
    00:55 WAVERLY - P Shoemaker 5 yd run (Greyson Diener kick)
                                             8 plays, 80 yards, TOP 3:47, WAVERLY 21 - BC 49



          Team Statistics (4th qtr [00:51])
                            The Automated ScoreBook
        Waverly Tigers vs Bloom Carroll (Nov 16, 2019 at Chillicothe HS)

                                WAVERLY       BC

FIRST DOWNS...................       24       15
  Rushing.....................        7       10
  Passing.....................       13        5
  Penalty.....................        4        0
NET YARDS RUSHING.............      119      226
  Rushing Attempts............       29       36
  Average Per Rush............      4.1      6.3
  Rushing Touchdowns..........        1        4
  Yards Gained Rushing........      144      236
  Yards Lost Rushing..........       25       10
NET YARDS PASSING.............      244      119
  Completions-Attempts-Int....  24-41-0   9-15-0
  Average Per Attempt.........      6.0      7.9
  Average Per Completion......     10.2     13.2
  Passing Touchdowns..........        2        2
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS...........      363      345
  Total offense plays.........       70       51
  Average Gain Per Play.......      5.2      6.8
Fumbles: Number-Lost..........      2-2      0-0
Penalties: Number-Yards.......     4-21     3-34
PUNTS-YARDS...................     3-92     1-36
  Average Yards Per Punt......     30.7     36.0
  Net Yards Per Punt..........     30.7     36.0
  Inside 20...................        0        0
  50+ Yards...................        0        0
  Touchbacks..................        0        0
  Fair catch..................        0        1
KICKOFFS-YARDS................    4-145    8-464
  Average Yards Per Kickoff...     36.2     58.0
  Net Yards Per Kickoff.......     28.5     35.4
  Touchbacks..................        1        3
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD.    0-0-0    0-0-0
  Average Per Return..........      0.0      0.0
Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD  5-121-0   1-11-0
  Average Per Return..........     24.2     11.0
Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD..    0-0-0    0-0-0
Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD.    0-0-0   2-62-1
Miscellaneous Yards...........        0        0
Possession Time...............    26:23    20:42
  1st Quarter.................     7:44     4:16
  2nd Quarter.................     5:35     6:25
  3rd Quarter.................     5:42     6:18
  4th Quarter.................     7:22     3:43
Third-Down Conversions........  7 of 15  7 of 11
Fourth-Down Conversions.......   1 of 4   1 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      1-2      3-3
Sacks By: Number-Yards........      0-0      0-0
PAT Kicks.....................      3-3      7-7
Field Goals...................      0-0      0-2

Bloom-Carroll

CMP ATT INT PYDS TD ATT RUYDS TD REC REYDS TD
00000000000
Sacks Tackles INT FGM FGA
00000

Waverly

# Offense CMP ATT INT PYDS TD ATT RUYDS TD REC REYDS TD
1Payton Shoemaker00000281431000
2Zeke Brown000000004440
3Grayson Diener000001-240000
5Hunter Ward000000001-30
6Will Futhey00000000111672
9Penn Morrison00000000480
10Mark Stulley000000002210
13Haydn Shanks244102442000000
23Phoenix Wolf00000000270
 Total244102442291191242442
# Defense Sacks Tackles INT FGM FGA
 Total00000

Details

Date Time League Season
November 16, 2019 7:00 pm Playoffs 2019

Pirates’ playoff win means season sweep of Falcons

vs

Results

Team1234TOutcome
Wheelersburg00141428Win
Minford3071323Loss

Pirates’ playoff win means season sweep of Falcons

By Paul Boggs

WHEELERSBURG — It all began, innocently enough, with an onside kick.
Turns out it was the kick-start that got the host Wheelersburg Pirates warmed up on a cold night — and off and literally running.
With Wheelersburg recovering an onside kick to open the second half, and the tide turning to the Pirates’ favor in the form of 242 second-half rushing yards, Saturday night’s much-anticipated rematch against the Minford Falcons went Wheelersburg’s way — with the Pirates going up and eventually holding on for a 28-23 Division V Region 19 quarterfinal victory inside Ed Miller Stadium in Wheelersburg.

With the win, the Pirates extended their OHSAA regional quarterfinal winning streak to seven, as this is the eighth consecutive season in which Wheelersburg has not only competed in the playoffs — but also has hosted a regional quarterfinal.
The third-seeded Pirates and sixth-seed Falcons both entered at 7-3, but — largely thanks to Wheelersburg’s 21-20 overtime triumph over the host Falcons (7-4) on Oct. 4 — the Pirates (8-3) got the home game.

And, for the second time in a season against Minford — and for the fifth time in Wheelersburg head coach Rob Woodward’s dozen campaigns — the Pirates defeated the same squad in the regular season…AND in the playoffs.
In fact, the first time that happened was Woodward’s first season as head coach — against Minford in 2008 (14-7 in regular season and 14-6 in regional quarterfinals).
But for the Pirates, the plan is simple in November.
Just keep playing.

“We just want to be playing in week 12 and here we are. No matter whom it is against,” said Woodward. “We have guys that make big-time plays in big-time playoff games. In all three phases. We’ll take it. It’s playoff football. You just want to still be playing. We had some miscues in the first half, but we made some adjustments and reached into our toolbox to find some things that we could do differently. Our coaches communicated those with our kids and we were able to make some successful changes in the second half. Minford come in here very prepared, threw everything at us, gave us a tremendous battle. Our kids did enough of what they needed to do to ensure we came away with the win. We did some things that we recognized that were effective enough for us. We’ll go back and fix the things that we need to fix, but we’re still playing next week.”

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And, next Saturday night to be exact, the Pirates play undefeated Ridgewood in a Region 19 semifinal — at 7 p.m. at Lancaster’s Fulton Field.
Early on, though, it appeared as if Minford — making its first playoff appearance since 2012 — might be the one advancing, as the Falcons forced a pair of Pirate punts and a turnover on downs while driving 10 plays over five minutes and eight seconds in the first quarter to lead 3-0 at halftime.

Matthew Risner made a 27-yard field goal with 3:38 remaining in the opening period, and that kick held up — as Braxton Sammons missed a 32-yard attempt for Wheelersburg with six-and-a-half seconds left in the first half.

But special teams indeed was a theme, and Wheelersburg was just getting kick-started.

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Sammons made all four of his extra-point attempts, and the Pirates presumably put the game out of reach at 28-10 with only 3:53 remaining — after Wheelersburg recovered a Sammons squib kick at the Minford 19-yard-line following the Falcons fumbling the return.

“Braxton (Sammons) made all four extra points, did a great job kicking off, and we recovered two onside kicks. We’ll take recovering that squib kick at the 20 in the fourth quarter. We’re always trying to take advantage of things when we can,” said Woodward. “Playoff football is often won on special teams.”
Is was on Saturday night.

Following the Pirates’ collectively and Sammons individually executing the onside kick to start the second half, Wheelersburg went off for 242 rushing yards on 27 carries— scoring all 28 points in a matter of 20 minutes.

The Pirates attempted only a single second-half pass, but definitely didn’t need to throw, especially when Makya Matthews and quarterback Evan Horsley had their wheels working in the cold just fine.

After 11 carries for 40 yards in the opening half, Matthews erupted for 164 yards and a hat trick of touchdowns on 14 rushes in the second.
His two short scoring runs of six and seven yards came exactly 52 seconds apart in the fourth quarter, making it 28-10 for Wheelersburg’s largest lead.
Matthews amounted a massive 204 yards on 25 carries, as Horsley had 14 total carries for 93 yards — with eight tries for 64 yards in the second half.
Horsley’s one-yard dive to cap a 10-play, 80-yard, four-minute and 17-second scoring drive put the Pirates in front for good at 14-10.

Hunter Ruby rushed five times for 24 yards, as three kneel-downs in the victory formation at the end of the game gave Wheelersburg 318 rushing yards on 47 carries.
Horsley completed half of his eight passes for 38 yards, but it was Wheelersburg’s second-half ground assault which wore the Falcons out.
“I’ve always commended our guys on their ability to continue to play for four quarters and their conditioning that they work themselves through. This week was no different. It showed tonight,” said Woodward. “Our guys just kept cranking it up and playing at a high level, which is what we want. We always tell our guys to win it in the fourth quarter. Even if you’re struggling throughout, just continue to push and persevere and win it in the fourth.”

But the Pirates had to get kick-started first, which was on the onside kick to open the third.

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Sammons calmly kicked the ball, hovered over it almost as it rolled the necessary 10 yards before being touched, and then the Pirates fell on it at the Falcon 47-yard-line.
Minford coach Jesse Ruby said his Falcons actually “expected” the onsider, but “unfortunately, we just didn’t recover it”.
“They did a nice job of not touching it in the first 10 yards. It slow-rolled and it let them get there and get a good recovery, he said.

The Pirates took immediate advantage, as Matthews — on the same back-to-back running play-call — dashed up the middle for nine yards, before bursting for 38 yards to the end zone only 39 seconds in.

Sammons made the extra point for the 7-3 Wheelersburg lead, as the Pirates then answered a quick Minford score with their second touchdown that featured five carries apiece by Matthews and Horsley.

Minford, meanwhile, moved the ball as well — amassing 309 yards on 57 plays from scrimmage, with a balance of 35 rushes for 141 yards and Elijah Voglesong-Lewis completing 13-of-22 passes for 168 yards.

Ty Wiget, the Falcons’ senior standout running back who had 71 yards on 11 carries, had 41 of them on one run just a minute-and-a-half into the third quarter — from the Wheelersburg 44 all the way to the three.

Wiget then scored on the next play, as Minford’s 51-yard and 53-second scoring drive — with Risner’s extra-point kick — gave the Falcons a 10-7 advantage.
But other than that TD, and Voglesong-Lewis’ two short scoring runs within a minute of each other in the final two-and-a-half minutes to get the Falcons to within 28-23, Minford failed to put touchdowns on the board once inside the 25-yard line.

Coach Ruby said that Minford made mistakes that indeed impacted its performance.
“Self-inflicted mistakes, whether that’s a penalty or a missed assignment or a missed block or a missed tackle or taking a sack or dropping a catch, those situations certainly hurt,” he said. “They are just critical in a playoff atmosphere. It’s just unfortunate that we had a few. But every play matters. Offense, defense and special teams. It showed tonight in all three phases. Every play tonight, every play against Wheelersburg this year had a pivotal role at some point in time.”

In the first quarter, a Voglesong-Lewis short-screen pass completion to Bryson Ashley for 33 yards moved the Falcons to the Pirate 10, but a fumble on the exchange two plays later stalled the drive — and forced the Falcons to kick the Risner field goal.

A full 12 minutes later, Minford moved as deep as the Pirate 17, but a holding penalty pushed the Falcons back to the 28, as a Voglesong-Lewis pass on 4th-and-11 from the 23 into the end zone was dropped.

Both of those first-half drives were 10 plays, as — trailing 14-10 — the Falcons drove eight plays and as deep as the Wheelersburg 22.
But on 3rd-down-and-8, the Pirates sacked Voglesong-Lewis for a 13-yard loss, resulting in a punt which Minford misjudged in an attempt to down it near the goal-line.
Wheelersburg then went three-and-out, and a Risner return to the Pirate 46 set shop up for the Falcons at the outset of the fourth quarter.
Minford moved nine plays in three minutes and five seconds to the 14, but three straight incompletions — and a two-yard gain on 4th-down by Voglesong-Lewis — left it empty-handed again.
The Pirate defense did bend at times, but it definitely didn’t break.

“They got down towards the red zone, and we bowed our backs. We stopped them a couple times on fourth down, we forced a punt, we forced a field goal. Some huge defensive plays down in the red zone that we needed to make,” said Woodward. “Those all add up in a big playoff game like this.”
Voglesong-Lewis led the Falcons with 18 carries for 61 yards, as Risner recorded eight receptions for 106 yards — while rushing four times for 10.
Meanwhile, more of Matthews and Horsley had the Pirates up 21-10 with 4:45 remaining, as Wheelersburg drove 88 yards in only eight plays in four-and-a-half minutes with Matthews scoring from six yards out.

After the Pirates recovered the ensuing Sammons squib-kick kickoff, Ruby ran a jet sweep for 12 yards to the seven, as Matthews covered those final seven yards to make it 28-10 just 52 seconds later.

“We just mishandled that ball. We had a couple of guys with an opportunity to get it, and every time we jumped on the ball, it squirted out and their guys were able to make a play and get on it,” said Coach Ruby.

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Minford made the final 3:39 interesting, though, as Risner’s return of 50 yards of the ensuing kickoff and pass completion to him for 21 set up Voglesong-Lewis’ six-yard run at the two-and-a-half minute mark.

Risner made the extra point for the 11-point deficit (28-17), as the Falcons then executed and recovered an onside kick of their own — and were right back at midfield.
Another Voglesong-Lewis completion to Risner, this one for 34 yards, quickly moved Minford to the Wheelersburg three-yard-line — as Voglesong-Lewis ran in again three plays later with a minute-and-a-half remaining.

But the Falcons failed on the two-point conversion pass attempt, and after another Falcon onside kick which Wheelersburg recovered, Minford’s comeback bid was officially over — as well as its comeback season.

“I thought our kids played hard and well throughout the whole game, but Wheelersburg made some key plays in the second half. When you are down 28-10 and there’s three minutes to go, you can see a team just easily lay down and give up. I was very proud of our kids for coming back and showing resiliency, making a big play, getting in the end zone, recovering an onside kick and getting back in the end zone again in that short amount of time,” said Coach Ruby. “We had two touchdowns there in a minute. Their effort all night was great.”
Minford started last season 6-0, then lost the final four games to fall out of playoff contention.

The Falcons were on a similar slide this year, having lost two of three after opening 5-0 — and sitting one spot out of the playoffs prior to their regular-season finale against Valley.
But Minford shut out Valley, and Waverly won at Oak Hill, thus propelling the Falcons into the Region 19 quarterfinals.
Minford will graduate and say goodbye to 15 seniors, as Ruby said the group was “very good”.

“These seniors were huge to this team this year. I’ve been head coach for four years, so I’ve had them all since they were freshmen,”he said. “Just to see their attitude and leadership and work ethic over the last four years get better and better, they will be missed. They’ve worked hard to try and improve our program. They’ve carried themselves so well throughout this whole season.”
For the Pirates, they play on against second-seeded Ridgewood, whom Woodward and Wheelersburg are quite familiar with.

“We’ve played them in the past. Coach (John) Slusser and I know one another well,” said the coach. “He has a quality good football team and program. It’s going to be a battle.”

* * *
Wheelersburg 28, Minford 23
Minford 3 0 7 13 — 23
Wheelersburg 0 0 14 14 — 28
M — Matthew Risner, 27-yard field goal, 3:38, 1st (3-0 M)
W — Makya Matthews, 38-yard run (Braxton Sammons kick), 11:21, 3rd (7-3 W)
M — Ty Wiget, 3-yard run (Matthew Risner kick), 10:26, 3rd (10-7 M)
W — Evan Horsley, 1-yard run (Braxton Sammons kick), 6:09, 3rd (14-10 W)
W — Makya Matthews, 6-yard run (Braxton Sammons kick), 4:45, 4th (21-10 W)
W — Makya Matthews, 7-yard run (Braxton Sammons kick), 3:53, 4th (28-10 W)
M — Elijah Voglesong-Lewis, 6-yard run (Matthew Risner kick), 2:33, 4th (28-17 W)
M — Elijah Voglesong-Lewis, 3-yard run (pass failed), 1:29, 4th (28-23 W)

Team Statistics
M W
First downs 15 17
Plays from scrimmage 57 55
Rushes-yards 35-141 47-318
Passing yards 168 38
Total yards 309 356
Cmp-Att-Int. 13-22-0 4-8-0
Fumbles-lost 3-1 0-0
Penalties-yards 6-56 8-90
Punts-average 2-36 3-31.7
——
Individual Leaders
RUSHING —Minford: Elijah Voglesong-Lewis 18-61 2TD, Ty Wiget 11-71, Matthew Risner 4-10, Timmy Walk 1-1, Team 1-(-2); Wheelersburg: Makya Matthews 25-204 3TD, Evan Horsley 14-93 TD, Hunter Ruby 5-24, Team 3-(-3)
PASSING — Minford: Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis 13-22-0-168; Wheelersburg: Evan Horsley 4-8-0-38
RECEIVING — Minford: Matthew Risner 8-106, Bryson Ashley 2-46, Drew Skaggs 2-11, Ty Wiget 1-5 ; Wheelersburg: Eli Swords 2-26, Makya Matthews 1-8, Hunter Ruby 1-4

Wheelersburg

# Offense CMP ATT INT PYDS TD ATT RUYDS TD REC REYDS TD
Evan Horsley48038014931000
Hunter Ruby000005240140
23Eli Swords000000002260
29Makya Matthews00000252043180
 Total4803804432144380
# Defense Sacks Tackles INT FGM FGA
 Total00000

Minford

# Offense CMP ATT INT PYDS TD ATT RUYDS TD REC REYDS TD
Tim Walk00000110000
2Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis13220168018612000
7Matthew Risner00000410081060
11Drew Skaggs000000002110
25Ty Wiget0000011710150
30Bryson Ashley000000002460
 Total132201680341432131680
# Defense Sacks Tackles INT FGM FGA
 Total00000

Details

Date Time League Season
November 9, 2019 7:00 pm Playoffs 2019

Blue Devils, Tigers meet in Region 15 quarters

Blue Devils, Tigers meet in Region 15 quarters

By Paul Boggs

[event_scoreboard id=”1702″ number=”11″ align=”none”]

[event_scoreboard id=”1714″ number=”10″ align=”none”]

WAVERLY – It’s a matchup of conference runner-ups, but it’s also a playoff affair of two of Southeastern Ohio’s consistently top programs.

That’s because the 9-1 Gallia Academy Blue Devils travel to face the 8-2 Waverly Tigers, as both squads are in need of a playoff pick-me-up – after a few years of not having much serious success to speak of.

Kickoff for the Division IV Region 15 quarterfinal is set for Saturday night at 7 p.m., inside Waverly’s nicely-renovated Raidiger Field.

Gallia Academy is making its 12th all-time Ohio High School Athletic Association state playoff appearance, while Waverly is making its eighth.

Both clubs qualified last year as the Tigers are actually competing in their school-record fourth consecutive postseason, but first for Region 15 after three straight seasons of one-and-out in the Cincinnati-centric Region 16.

For the eight-man Waverly senior class, and even its underclassmen, it’s time to take the next step as a program – and win a playoff game.

The third-seeded Tigers are 3-7 all-time in the playoffs – but haven’t won since back-to-back regional quarterfinal victories in 2006 and 2007, when Trevor Walls was the talented and highly-touted Waverly quarterback.

“These guys (seniors) have been to one every year, which is cool, but we haven’t tasted that victory yet,” said Waverly coach Chris Crabtree. “Going three times now four times in a row (to the playoffs) is the first time that’s been done here, so we have another opportunity to win one. We’re definitely in a better region (Region 15) for us, given our school-size perspective and our makeup, it just fits us a little bit better. In 2016, we had a home playoff game and it was super exciting with a great atmosphere, and it should be that way again on Saturday night. We just have to get over the hump, and this would be a great time to do that.”

The Blue Devils’ playoff mark is 6-11, but last season was the first since 2012 that Gallia Academy was even in the postseason – after a few years of falling on uncharacteristic hard times.

Gallia Academy is coming off a second straight 9-1 campaign under third-year head coach Alex Penrod – losing only against Ohio Valley Conference champion Ironton.

“It is a great feeling for our seniors, our team, our program and our community. To know where this program and these seniors were just a short time ago, but through their determination to want to be successful, they have bought into what the coaches lay out to them daily, week in and week out, and in the offseason,” said Penrod. “It is great for them to reap the benefits of hard work and commitment.”

Gallia Academy was in the running for a Region 15 home tilt, but the blowout loss against Ironton dropped the sixth-seeded Blue Devils out of the top four for good.

Penrod said the past two weeks have been about recovering physically, but more importantly emotionally.

“It was one of those ‘shell-shock’ moments. Our team truly believed they were going to beat Ironton. Unfortunately, things that could go wrong did go wrong, and we were not able to overcome the mental aspect of the adversity of situations,” said the coach. “But through every defeat, you can find strength if you are willing to believe positive thoughts and willing to get back to work. We have had a few minor bumps and bruises the last couple of weeks, but we hope to be back at full strength as we enter the playoffs.”

If Gallia Academy is at full strength for Saturday night, then that will include junior James Armstrong returning to the lineup after missing most of the seventh game of the season – and all three of the Blue’s final regular-season bouts, including Ironton.

#
3
Name
James Armstrong
Position
2021
Height
6-00
Weight
190
Current Team
Gallia Academy
Leagues
OVC, SEO
Seasons
2019, 2020
The six-foot, 190-pound Armstrong had rushed for 1,034 yards on 134 carries prior to his injury, and is the most significant piece of the Blue Devils’ offensive attack.

It was believed by multiple sources that he would miss those last three regular-season games, but Crabtree is approaching as if Armstrong will return this week.
“Looking at them is almost like looking in the mirror in how we run our offense. They have similar formation sets, they are very athletic, they are very big up front. I know he has missed the last three games, but I am going to assume that the Armstrong kid is going to play on Saturday. But (running back Michael) Beasy has carried the load and has done a good job of running the football for them,” said Crabtree. “They are definitely well-coached, they want to run the football, they can throw the football when they need to, and their formations make it difficult for you to adjust to.”

With Armstrong’s, Beasy’s and Donevyn Woodson’s speed, Crabtree said a key is “being able to get off blocks and being able to tackle”.

“We’re going to have to stop the run. We want to make them throw the ball to beat us,” he said.

Meanwhile, Waverly has its own injury concerns – with junior quarterback Haydn’ Shanks continually competing on a torn ACL he suffered in the preseason.

#
13
Name
Haydn Shanks
Position
2021
Height
6-03
Weight
190
Current Team
Waverly
Leagues
SEO, SOC2
Seasons
2019, 2020
Shanks still has thrown for 1,652 yards and 16 touchdowns on 115-of-185 passing, with Will Futhey leading the Tigers’ receiving corps – with 43 receptions for 872 yards and 11 TD.

But the Waverly offense, of course, centers around the senior standout running back Payton Shoemaker – who went over the 2,000-yard single-season rushing mark in the Tigers’ 27-14 triumph at Oak Hill.

The fast-paced Tigers try – and often succeed – at operating a hurry-it-up no-huddle offense, in which Shoemaker is the primary focus.

#
1
Name
Payton Shoemaker
Position
2020
Height
5-09
Weight
155
Current Team
Waverly
Leagues
SEO, SOC2
Seasons
2019
Shoemaker has 258 of the Tigers’ 328 carries this season, going off for an amazing average of 204 yards per game and eight yards per each individual carry.

He has amassed 28 touchdowns and 2,039 yards.

“We definitely have some athletes and we can stretch the field vertically or horizontally,” said Crabtree. “We can take the top off of it down deep, and obviously with Payton (Shoemaker), if you give him a little bit of crease, he can make things happen.”

Penrod explained that the Tigers’ tempo actually allows the Blue Devil defense to adjust easier.

“For a lot of teams, the up-tempo can give you fits because it is not something you see every game. For us, it gives us more of an advantage because our offense wants to play fast and up-tempo, so we are more geared to adjusting to their style of play,” he said. “We are not as fast as they are, and that is still hard to simulate. With the amount of weapons they have inside the box, they have the same ability outside of the box to beat you too. It all comes down to individually doing ‘your job’. For Waverly, the less time they have the football, that is what usually favors them. They are more worried about the number of snaps they can get more than time of possession. We know they want to push the tempo, and we have to be ready to adjust to the speed of the game and the formations they are going to give us.”

Hence, this could quickly turn into an offensive shootout, which will definitely keep the fans interested – on an expected cold night in Waverly.

Given Gallipolis is an estimated hour travel distance to Waverly along U.S. Route 35 to State Route 32, the Blue Devils do bring a following – and an even overflow crowd is likely on Saturday night.

It is the only Region 15 bout featuring a pair of Southeast District squads, and should attract all of Pike and Gallia counties.

“We have both been in big games with large crowds. Our Ironton game had a lot of buildup, but I think playing on a Saturday is more of a sticking point because of the ‘longer’ week, but also getting you out of the routine of the normal week during the year of playing on Fridays. It will be a great environment for both teams and schools, but also for Southeast Ohio,” said Penrod. “We hope both areas can pack the stadium, and give what both of our teams deserve, which is a positive support system from all involved.”

Of course, a playoff pick-me-up and advancement to the regional semifinals is the ultimate goal.

“With two teams being close enough for familiarity, it should be a packed house and great atmosphere,” said Crabtree. “We are excited for our kids, our community and our school system, and we hopefully we can get this one.”

Join the discussion here

RankPlayerPositionHeightWeightPYDSTDRUYDSTDREYDSTD
1James Armstrong20216-0019000111611740
2Michael Beasy20216-0016500771121011
3Briar Williams20225-101500030523042
4Donevyn Woodson20225-111450012601223
5Brody Fellure20235-0914528198100
View all players
RankPlayerPositionHeightPYDSTDRUYDSTDREYDSTD
1Payton Shoemaker20205-0900234432740
2Hunter Ward20205-09002222-30
3Dawson Shoemaker2022-0055050
4Jackson Poe20215-110024700
5Trey Brushart2023-007000
View all players
0 - 24
SEO
2019
Meigs

Meigs vs Gallia Academy

0 - 38
SEO
2019
River Valley

River Valley vs Gallia Academy

14 - 13
SEO
2019
Gallia Academy

Gallia Academy vs Point Pleasant WV

55 - 27
OVC
2019
Gallia Academy

Gallia Academy vs Chesapeake

45 - 28
OVC
2019
Gallia Academy

Gallia Academy vs Portsmouth

0 - 28
OVC
2019
Fairland

Fairland vs Gallia Academy

44 - 20
OVC
2019
Gallia Academy

Gallia Academy vs Coal Grove

7 - 48
OVC
2019
Rock Hill

Rock Hill vs Gallia Academy

0 - 52
OVC
2019
Gallia Academy

Gallia Academy vs Ironton

26 - 57
OVC
2019
South Point

South Point vs Gallia Academy

40 - 0
Playoffs
2019

Waverly vs Gallia Academy

27 - 30
SEO
2019
Waverly

Athens vs Waverly

14 - 49
SEO
2019
Zane Trace

Zane Trace vs Waverly

14 - 41
SEO
2019
Waverly

Waverly vs Unioto

21 - 31
SEO
2019
Fairland

Fairland vs Waverly

48 - 13
SEO
2019
Waverly

Waverly vs Amanda-Clearcreek

7 - 37
SEO
2019
Portsmouth West

Portsmouth West vs Waverly

51 - 7
SEO
2019
Waverly

Waverly vs Valley

42 - 28
SEO
2019
Wheelersburg

Wheelersburg vs Waverly

38 - 22
SEO
2019
Waverly

Waverly vs Minford

14 - 27
SEO
2019
Oak Hill

Oak Hill vs Waverly

40 - 0
Playoffs
2019

Waverly vs Gallia Academy

49 - 21
Playoffs
2019

Bloom-Carroll vs Waverly

The rematch: Minford, ‘Burg meet again after epic OT duel

The rematch: Minford, ‘Burg meet again after epic OT duel

[event_scoreboard id=”1698″ number=”10″ align=”none”]

[event_scoreboard id=”1703″ number=”10″ align=”none”]

By Paul Boggs

Usually, the sequel is not as good — and just doesn’t live up to the hype — of the original.

For the visiting Minford Falcons and host Wheelersburg Pirates, let’s just hope they can buck that trend.

That’s because, for the second time this season, the two Scioto County and Southern Ohio Conference Division II rivals meet on the gridiron — only this time the encore takes place inside Ed Miller Stadium in Wheelersburg in a Division V, Region 19 quarterfinal tilt.

Both squads are 7-3, as kickoff is set for Saturday night at 7 p.m. — inside what should be an amped-up, and overflow, Ed Miller Stadium.

Wheelersburg, winning the outright SOC II championship for the sixth straight season, is hosting a regional quarterfinal for the eighth consecutive campaign.

The Orange and Black battled back from an uncharacteristic 2-3 start, which included three setbacks to teams with a combined staggering record of 28-2.
Also unusual for the tradition-rich and proud Pirate program was only having four regular-season home bouts, so a playoff affair for a fifth was a positive consequence.

“We’re just extremely proud of our senior group and what they’ve been able to accomplish this year in a gauntlet of a schedule. We knew it was going to be a tough 10-game stretch for us. As it has shaken out, we had the eighth-toughest schedule in Division V in the entire state. We lost to three teams with a combined record of 28-2. But our seniors have never doubted anything or wavered.

Head Coach Rob Woodard

Current Team
Wheelersburg
They just continue to work and strive to get themselves better. They’ve pushed the younger kids and the younger guys have stepped up in areas where we needed them,” said Wheelersburg coach Rob Woodward, in an interview on Tuesday. “In terms of the program, we knew what we were working towards this year. Our guys continue to battle with that. They won an SOC II title again, and earned a home playoff game again. With only four home games this year and how our schedule worked out, a home playoff game is definitely something I wanted to see for our seniors and our community.”

The Pirates captured the third seed in Region 19, while the Falcons — which are making their first playoff appearance since 2012 — swooped in for the sixth seed.
Minford fell from fourth to ninth in the Region 19 computer rankings following back-to-back defeats against Oak Hill and at Waverly, and needed not onlyto defeat Valley in the regular-season finale — but also an Oak Hill loss to Waverly.

The Falcons got both, as fourth-year head coach Jesse Ruby returns to the playoffs, as he served on the staff of multiple Minford playoff appearances from 2007 thru 2010 — and again in 2012.

“Our kids came out and accomplished a lot of the things we want to accomplish. We played really good football for a stretch in the first half of the year. There are always moments you look back in the season and wish you would have done better, but overall, I think the team is happy with how their season went,” said Ruby, in an interview on Tuesday. “Being back in the playoffs again is something we don’t take for granted. To get to this point, it doesn’t happen as frequently as you would like for it to. It really means something to make the playoffs in football. It’s important to play and defeat quality opponents, and play your best football each week.”
Speaking of 2012, it was the year before that when the Pirates last missed the postseason, as their now 31st appearance sits sixth for most all-time in Ohio High School Athletic Association history.

Wheelersburg is 38-28 all-time in the tournament, while Minford — making its ninth all-time appearance — is 3-8.
One of those eight losses was to Wheelersburg, as the two teams faced off in the regional quarterfinals of 2008 — with Wheelersburg winning 14-6.

Last season, the Pirates played Portsmouth West in both the regular-season and SOC II finale — and then again in the Region 19 quarterfinals.

For Woodward, winding down his 12th season as the Pirates’ head coach and 17th in the program, was asked about playing the same squad twice in one year.
It’s happened with Ironton twice in fact, in both 2014 and 2015, in which Wheelersburg won the playoff matchup 38-7 after defeating the Fighting Tigers in the annual season opener.

Now, it’s Minford’s two-times turn again.
“I always tell our guys control the things we can control, and that is putting ourselves in the best situation that we can. Whomever our opponent is, we’re going to have to go out and prepare for like anyone else,” said Woodward. “Our guys were just excited to get that home playoff game. Minford is going to be a tough opponent, and playoff football is playoff football. You have to be ready to go each and every week.”

It’s safe to say, though, that the Falcons are licking their chops for a second shot at the ‘Burg.
In their week-six meeting at Minford, as the then-undefeated Falcons welcomed Wheelersburg that was perhaps viewed as most vulnerable, the Pirates pulled off an epic 21-20 overtime triumph — stopping the Falcons’ two-point conversion attempt after Minford’s Matthew Risner reached out and made an acrobatic over-the-shoulder touchdown catch for the 21-20 deficit.
With that victory, Wheelersburg won its 22nd consecutive SOC II game — en route to another championship and a 26-game league winning streak which will carry over into next season.

It was an electric, standing-room-only, and super-hyped atmosphere at Minford High School, and it was a game in which every play pretty much mattered in the outcome.
It started on the game’s fourth play, in which Minford standout running back Ty Wiget — with wide-open running room — was five yards away from a 52-yard touchdown dart.

But Wheelersburg’s primary playmaker, Makya Matthews, made probably the Pirates’ play of the season — sprinting and chasing down Wiget at the 5-yard line and tomahawk-chopping the football loose and into the end zone.

The Pirates recovered for a touchback, essentially saving their season in the process.
Both teams hit for long touchdown passes to Matthews (76 yards in the the quarter) and Risner (59 yards in the third quarter), but a 67-yard scoring strike to Risner from Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis was negated on a holding penalty.

Ruby said the mistakes Minford made against the Pirates pertained not to scheme, but to execution.

Head Coach Jesse Ruby

Current Team
Minford
“I felt we played very well, but there were little things in terms of a linebacker misreading a key, or the quarterback missing a read on a pass, it’s those little things. Not anything with particular play calls or if we would have ran a different defensive look,” said the coach. “I think so much of it was an execution thing. Overall, I thought our gameplan and the way our kids executed that was pretty good. Just the little things of those issues.”

Of course, not getting the two-point conversion attempt — which would have given Minford its first win over Wheelersburg since 2009 — still stings with the Falcons to this very day.

Thus, Minford’s motivation for a rematch goes without saying.

“The initial sting of losing that night bothered our kids. But reflecting back at it, I felt like our kids felt pretty good about the way they played that game. They definitely would love to have an opportunity to do it again. To see if they can make it a different result,” said Ruby. “I think they are very excited about the situation we have.”
But while the Falcons have whom they want, the Pirates are indeed a different team than from six weeks ago.
It was in that game, in fact, in which Wheelersburg went with senior Evan Horsley at quarterback for good — as he replaced an ineffective Aaron Masters in the second quarter.

Horsley hooked up with Matthews for a 76-yard touchdown pass for a 7-0 Pirate lead, as Horsley had three completions on seven attempts that night — while rushing for 92 yards on 14 carries.

Since then, the Pirates have scored at least 41 points in their final four games — including 55 at Oak Hill, as Horsley has rushed for 429 yards and five TDs on 76 carries.

As a passer, he has completed 31-of-53 for 58-percent, amassing 601 yards and nine scores.
Woodward said Horsley has evolved the Pirate offense from a simpler package of plays against the Falcons until now, as these Pirates are more run-oriented.
In Wheelersburg’s 42-28 triumph over Waverly, Matthews carried 29 times for 267 yards and a hat trick of scores — while wide receiver Hunter Ruby ran several jet sweeps.
“At that time (Minford game), we were evaluating things, and knew what Evan (Horsley) could bring to the table,” said Woodward. “We felt we needed to make that switch at that time. We were able to utilize a small set of plays that we had repped with him there, but since that time, we’ve really been able to expand on what we’re able to do. Evan brings such a leadership and commanding presence at the quarterback position. He is a threat to run, he recognizes how plays are meant to be executed and where to go with the football. And if it doesn’t, he does a great job of checking down and improvising and continuing to make sure positive yards are gained on a given play. That offensive consistency has taken pressure off our defense, allowing them to be more attacking and aggressive, which is definitely what we strive to be and play better at.”

Coach Ruby concurred that Horsley brings a greater running element to the Pirate offense.

“Evan Horsley is such a good runner. Now he has the ball in his hands every play. It just makes them more dynamic in the way they can attack you, given his skill sets,” he said. “His ability to run the ball, especially in the middle, off a fake to Matthews running outside or things of that nature really poses a threat to a defense. Our kids have to be able to read their assignment and not get caught looking in the backfield.”

The Pirates have big-play ability as do the fast Falcons, who can quickly strike with the likes of Vogelsong-Lewis, Wiget, Risner and Drew Skaggs.

Wiget rushed 25 times for 143 yards against Wheelersburg, while Vogelsong-Lewis completed 8-of-12 passes for 143 yards.

For the season, Vogelsong-Lewis has thrown for 1,429 yards and 16 scores on 82-of-151, while rushing for 708 and seven TDs on 114 carries.

Wiget has amassed 1,358 yards and 18 touchdowns on 197 attempts, while catching 16 passes for 156 yards out of the backfield.

Risner with 557 yards and seven touchdowns and Skaggs with 467 yards and six scores have 25 receptions apiece.

“They are spreading the ball around to more guys, so we have to make sure we account for them, but we know that Ty Wiget and (Elijah) Vogelsong-Lewis are threats to score on any given play,” said Woodward. “They have a lot of speed that we are well-aware of.”
But Ruby believes better ball control against Wheelersburg “would help” his offense out.

“We have been a big-strike offense. We’ve always had the ability to score from anywhere on the field with our speed and in a variety of ways,” he said. “But we have to improve on being able to sustain drives and convert on third down, and have the mentality that we need to get four yards on every play and not 50. So we can continue to move the chains and eat up some of the clock. Wheelersburg is similar to us in that they have a lot of fast players, they can score very quickly, and they have big-play potential. If you can limit their possessions, it can work to your advantage.”

Although, while possessions may or may not be limited, it’s highly likely there will be more of unlimited hype.
After all, the two schools are an estimated 15 minutes apart — and play each other once-a-year in already a high-stakes regular-season match.

Throw in Saturday night being a playoff game…and we can only hope that the sequel is better than the original.
“It’s a playoff game, plus it’s a game in which the first meeting was decided by one point in overtime. People in and around the area want to see how this game is going to go again,” said Ruby. “It’s hard for me to express to our players how big I think this game is going to be. If you thought the first game was big, this one will be twice as much.”

And, all that HAS to happen is the winning team be at least one point better than the losing club.
“Even if it’s one point again, the key focus we have is to have fun playing the game, feed off of each other’s energy, and go out and win in advance. In the playoffs, you have to do everything you can to execute and do the things you need to do, regardless of the opponent. Everybody plays in the playoffs with a heightened energy, with a heightened level of play,” said Woodward. “We have to understand that we’ve got five rungs on the ladder that we want to work to climb. Our guys are doing a great job of preparing for that this week.”

Join the discussion here

Waverly no huddle and speed too much for Falcons

vs

Results

Team1234TOutcome
Waverly7771738Win
Minford376622Loss

By Paul Boggs

Photos by Renee Nemeth

WAVERLY — Simply put, odds are that the Waverly Tigers are the fastest team of 10-play scoring drives you’ll ever see.

On Friday night, the Minford Falcons found that out first-hand.

In scoring on five drives of at least nine plays, and in five minutes or less for each of them, the host Tigers officially punched their tickets to the 2019 Division IV state playoffs — defeating the Falcons 38-22 in a fast-paced Southern Ohio Conference Division II tilt at festive Raidiger Field in Waverly.

That’s correct.

Waverly’s no-huddle hurry-it-up offense keeps everybody on their toes and paying attention, and in their goal of wearing the Falcons down with an overdose of Payton Shoemaker mixed in with Haydn’ Shanks slinging the football all around, the Tigers scored in a variety of ways — while amassing 456 yards and 26 first downs on a whopping 76 plays from scrimmage.

“They (Tigers) are just a high-powered fast-paced offense. They get snaps off every 15 seconds. They are very efficient at what they do and have weapons all over the field. They like to go super up-tempo and it does stress the defense,” said Minford coach Jesse Ruby.

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In addition, the senior standout Shoemaker — on Senior Night at Waverly High School — set the school’s single-season rushing record, which is now at 1,864 yards following his massive 43-carry 214-yard and two 1-yard TD night.

Of the Tigers’ 297 total rushes this season, the five-foot nine-inch 155-pound Shoemaker now has 232 — while rushing for 1,864 yards and 25 touchdowns, which is good for an average of exactly eight yards per tote.

Shoemaker broke the previous record held by Zach Montavon from 2001, as confetti — early, often and even late — flew from the home stands in celebration of not only Shoemaker’s accomplishments, but also the entire Tiger team.

The junior quarterback Shanks, playing on an injured knee all season which has limited his mobility, stood in the pocket and continually found receivers in the flat — to the tune of 193 yards and 21 completions on 29 attempts.

Two of Shanks’ actual downfield throws, to Will Futhey, resulted in two touchdown tosses of 31 and 15 yards — as Futhey finished with seven receptions for 81 yards.

Four other Tigers — Phoenix Wolf (five for 38), Penn Morrison (four for 51), Zeke Brown (three for 12) and Mark Stulley (two for 11) — all caught at least two balls.

“We were happy with the way we were able to perform offensively tonight,” said Waverly coach Chris Crabtree. “Haydn’ (Shanks) does a good job of getting the ball out on the edge, and obviously with our offensive line blocking for Payton (Shoemaker), who had another great night on Senior Night here by breaking the school’s single-season rushing record.”

Then there’s senior Grayson Diener, which is Waverly’s weapon as a placekicker.

Diener drilled seven kickoffs on Friday night — five of which went for touchbacks along with two others which were returned right from the goal-line.

The all-Ohio Division IV kicker calmly connected on all five of his extra-point kicks, and made it a full two-touchdown lead with his 29-yard field goal with four-and-a-half minutes remaining.

With Waverly so difficult to stop, it should be no surprise that the Tigers are officially full-steam ahead into the state playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, as — per the unofficial yet respected computer rankings website www.joeeitel.com — they have clinched a playoff spot in Region 15.

Should Waverly win at Oak Hill in its regular-season finale, the Tigers will indeed host a regional quarterfinal on Saturday night, Nov. 9.

The top eight teams in each region qualify for the playoffs – with the top four squads earning first-round home bouts.

Both clubs entered Friday’s colossal affair at 6-2, while Waverly is now 3-1 in the SOC II — with the Falcons falling to 2-3.

Speaking of the top eight, those same unofficial ratings list Minford — as of early Saturday morning — as the ninth-ranked team in Division V, Region 19.

Just two weeks ago, the Falcons were fourth, but an upset loss last week to visiting Oak Hill dropped them to sixth — and now ninth.

Minford must now defeat visiting Valley next week, and may or may not need additional assistance in order to qualify for for the first time since 2012.

The Falcons found themselves playing catch-up with Waverly for the overwhelming majority, trailing for all but a span of two minutes and 46 seconds in the entire game.

They trailed 7-0 at the 4:25 mark of the opening quarter, but almost a dozen minutes later led 10-7, only to see Shanks engineer a second 10-play scoring drive of least 78 yards and two minutes and 41 seconds — and complete his second touchdown pass to Futhey for a 14-10 Tiger advantage.

Ty Wiget’s 14-yard touchdown run capped an impressive 14-play 64-yard five-and-a-half minute scoring drive, as Wiget — who had the first and final carries of the series but missed the remainder because of cramps — gave way to quarterback Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis and all-purpose performer Matthew Risner.

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How good was this Minford tandem?

While Wiget rushed for 64 yards on 13 carries and caught three passes for 39 yards, Risner relieved him at tailback — and carried seven times for 33 yards while making five catches for a hefty 123.

Vogelsong-Lewis, the elusive and athletic left-handed signal-caller, completed 15 of his 18 pass attempts for 246 yards while rushing 15 times for 26.

“Minford has some good athletes with (Elijah) Vogelsong-Lewis, (Ty) Wiget, (Matthew) Risner and (Drew) Skaggs. They made a lot of big plays. But our goal was to get Wiget going sideways and keep him in front of us as much as we could. Vogelsong-Lewis is a running threat at quarterback, and he does a great job of rolling out and eluding the sack,” said Crabtree.

But unfortunately for the Falcons, Risner — who successfully made a 26-yard field goal with 28 seconds left in the first quarter and followed that up with his 32-yard touchdown reception and subsequent extra-point kick midway through the second stanza — missed the PAT following Wiget’s TD.

 

The Falcons then trailed 31-16 following Diener’s field goal with 4:34 to play, but four quick Vogelsong-Lewis completions — to Bryson Ashley for eight yards, two to Wiget for 15 and 21 yards and a 36-yard scoring strike to Drew Skaggs only a minute later — got Minford to within 31-22.

However, forced to attempt a two-point conversion, the run failed — and now the Falcons needed two scores to tie or take the lead instead of just one with the extra point.

They almost got it — believe it or not.

The Tigers went four plays on the ensuing possession, as Shoemaker carried twice to midfield before an incomplete pass — in which the Falcons knocked Shanks out of the game.

Facing 4th-and-3 from the 50, Shoemaker managed just two yards on the fourth-down carry, giving the ball back to the Falcons at exactly the three-minute mark.

But Shoemaker atoned three plays and 34 seconds later, when a Minford receiver slipped and fell down — and Shoemaker intercepted Vogelsong-Lewis at the Tiger 42-yard-line.

Finally, fellow senior Hunter Ward spelled Shoemaker on the next Waverly possession — and promptly picked up seven yards before putting the game out of reach with a 52-yard scoring scamper at the 2:05 point.

Crabtree was happy for Ward to score such a touchdown on Senior Night, as the Tigers only sport eight seniors.

Shoemaker, of course, is the most noteworthy — as he touched the ball for 43 of Waverly’s 47 rushes, with Ward’s two and two team kneel-downs being the others.

Shoemaker’s second 1-yard touchdown plunge answered Wiget’s scoring run, and ended a nine-play 70-yard drive which picked up five first downs but only lasted a minute and 51 seconds.

That made it 28-16 with Diener’s extra point and just 46 seconds gone by in the fourth quarter, as the Tigers then forced the fourth Falcon punt — and third three-and-out possession.

The Tigers then drove another 10 plays from their own 33 to the Minford 12 — and actually consumed five minutes and 10 seconds — as Diener delivered down the middle on his field-goal attempt to make it 31-16.

That was the Tigers’ second such well-executed ball-control second-half series, as arguably their longest drive in terms of yards and plays put them up 21-10 — and devoured the first four minutes of the third-quarter clock.

Mixing Shoemaker with Shanks passes, once again Waverly gained five first downs — marching a massive 83 yards in 14 plays and capped off by Shoemaker’s first 1-yard score.

His third carry of that series, for six yards to midfield, officially gave him the single-season rushing record at Waverly.

But it was that touchdown that followed up the Tigers’ final first-half defensive stop, with Minford stopping itself, that was more important.

With Waverly leading 14-10, and with 2:43 to play before halftime, the Falcons quickly moved into Tiger territory — thanks largely on a deep pass completion of 53 yards from Vogelsong-Lewis to Risner.

From the Tiger 16, Minford manged to get to the 6-yard-line, but back-to-back five-yard penalties pushed the ball backward — and two plays later Vogelsong-Lewis lost five yards.

That set up a 29-yard Falcon field-goal attempt as time was rapidly running out, but the Tigers swarmed, bull-rushed and blocked Risner’s kick — and returned it all the way to midfield.

“We were good tonight on our end about not making the mental mistakes. It’s great when you can get a team like Minford behind the chains, because it changes their play-calling,” said Crabtree. “Getting the blocked field goal there was crucial and was a big stop for us, then we follow that up with the first drive of the second half and score a touchdown.”

Indeed, by Minford getting nothing and the Tigers taking advantage immediately after halftime, it was a gigantic point-swing.

“That was a critical point in the game, and we failed to execute in that situation. Then credit them for starting off the second half with such a good drive and getting another score,” said Ruby. “Any time you play a team as good as Waverly, you have to take care of the little things. When your beat yourself with penalties and put yourself behind the chains, it makes it so tough to continue to convert on second down or third down. At times, I thought we executed very well on offense and moved the ball and ate up a lot of the clock to keep Shoemaker and their offense off the field. We just didn’t have the chance to do it as much as we needed to tonight.”

The Falcons were whistled for six five-yard penalties as well — five of which were false starts.

They also turned the ball over twice in the second half, including a lost fumble two plays after falling behind 21-10.

But Minford continued to battle, as Ruby said the effort was much improved over last week’s disappointing loss to Oak Hill.

“I thought our effort was great tonight and our kids were resilient and kept rebounding whenever there was a negative play or they scored,” said Ruby. “We just didn’t make enough plays or make enough scores to get closer to where we could have pulled it out late in the game.”

Now, to in fact qualify for the playoffs, the Falcons need to duplicate that determination against the rival Indians.

“Our kids’ mindset this week will be going out and getting a victory over Valley and get in the playoffs,” said Ruby.

As for the Tigers, they are already in the postseason — as they travel to Oak Hill with hopes of giving their seniors one final home game.

Which would be another opportunity to see some of the fastest fast-paced football you’ll ever see.

“We’re in the playoffs regardless, but we want to win that last game to get that home game in week-11. You don’t want to end the regular season with a loss,” said Crabtree. “Hopefully, another week here, we get healthy with a few guys and have a good week of practice for Oak Hill, then get excited about what we have postseason-wise.”

* * *

Minford 3 7 6 6 — 22

Waverly 7 7 7 17— 38

W — Will Futhey, 31-yard pass from Haydn’ Shanks (Grayson Diener kick), 4:25, 1st (7-0 W)

M — Matthew Risner, 26-yard FG, :28, 1st (7-3 W)

M — Matthew Risner, 32-yard pass from Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis (Matthew Risner kick), 5:36, 2nd (10-7 M)

W — Will Futhey, 15-yard pass from Haydn’ Shanks (Grayson Diener kick), 2:50, 2nd (14-10 W)

W — Payton Shoemaker, 1-yard run (Grayson Diener kick), 8:01, 3rd (21-10 W)

M — Ty Wiget, 14-yard run (kick failed), 1:09, 3rd (21-16 W)

W — Payton Shoemaker, 1-yard run (Grayson Dienerk kick), 11:46, 4th (28-16 W)

W — Grayson Diener, 29-yard FG, 4:34, 4th (31-16 W)

M — Drew Skaggs, 36-yard pass from Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis (run failed), 3:35, 4th (31-22 W)

W — Hunter Ward, 52-yard run (Grayson Diener kick), 2:05, 4th (38-22 W)

Team Statistics

M W

First Downs 18 26

Scrimmage Plays 56 76

Rushes-Yards 38-134 47-263

Passing Yards 246 193

Total Yards 380 456

Cmp-Att-Int 15-18-1 21-29-0

Fumbles-Lost 3-1 0-0

Penalties-Yards 6-30 6-52

Punts-Average 4-33.5 2-23

——

Individual Leaders

RUSHING —Minford: Ty Wiget 13-64 TD, Matthew Risner 7-33, Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis 15-26, Bryson Ashley 3-11; Waverly: Payton Shoemaker 43-214 2TD, Hunter Ward 2-59 TD, Team 2-(-10)

PASSING — Minford: Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis 15-18-1-246 2TD; Waverly: Haydn’ Shanks 21-29-0-193 2TD

RECEIVING — Minford: Matthew Risner 5-123 TD, Drew Skaggs 3-58 TD, Ty Wiget 3-39, Bryson Ashley 4-26; Waverly: Will Futhey 7-81 2TD, Phoenix Wolf 5-38, Penn Morrison 4-51, Zeke Brown 3-12, Mark Stulley 2-11



FIRST DOWNS...................       18       25
  Rushing.....................       10       14
  Passing.....................        8       10
  Penalty.....................        0        1
NET YARDS RUSHING.............      132      256
  Rushing Attempts............       36       47
  Average Per Rush............      3.7      5.4
  Rushing Touchdowns..........        1        3
  Yards Gained Rushing........      152      270
  Yards Lost Rushing..........       20       14
NET YARDS PASSING.............      246      209
  Completions-Attempts-Int....  15-27-1  22-30-0
  Average Per Attempt.........      9.1      7.0
  Average Per Completion......     16.4      9.5
  Passing Touchdowns..........        2        2
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS...........      378      465
  Total offense plays.........       63       77
  Average Gain Per Play.......      6.0      6.0
Fumbles: Number-Lost..........      1-1      0-0
Penalties: Number-Yards.......     7-44     5-39
PUNTS-YARDS...................    4-134     2-45
  Average Yards Per Punt......     33.5     22.5
  Net Yards Per Punt..........     33.5     22.5
  Inside 20...................        1        0
  50+ Yards...................        0        0
  Touchbacks..................        0        0
  Fair catch..................        0        0
KICKOFFS-YARDS................    5-175    7-418
  Average Yards Per Kickoff...     35.0     59.7
  Net Yards Per Kickoff.......     32.6     36.9
  Touchbacks..................        0        5
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD.    0-0-0    0-0-0
  Average Per Return..........      0.0      0.0
Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD   2-60-0   3-12-0
  Average Per Return..........     30.0      4.0
Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD..    0-0-0    1-0-0
Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD.    0-0-0    0-0-0
Miscellaneous Yards...........        0       33
Possession Time...............    24:39    21:56
  1st Quarter.................     7:46     4:14
  2nd Quarter.................     6:56     5:04
  3rd Quarter.................     6:12     5:48
  4th Quarter.................     3:45     6:50
Third-Down Conversions........  3 of 13  5 of 11
Fourth-Down Conversions.......   2 of 3   0 of 3
Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      2-3      4-4
Sacks By: Number-Yards........      0-0      1-6
PAT Kicks.....................      1-2      5-5
Field Goals...................      1-2      1-1



	
PosTeamWLPFPANet Pts
1Wheelersburg5020155146
2Waverly411819289
3Oak Hill3284119-35
4Minford231229032
5Valley1443164-121
6Portsmouth West0552163-111






		

		

			
				

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Waverly

		

		

			
				

																										#
														
																	Offense															
																			CMP
													ATT
													INT
													PYDS
													TD
													ATT
													RUYDS
													TD
													REC
													REYDS
													TD
															

			
							
					
1Payton Shoemaker000004321121150
2Zeke Brown00000000280
5Hunter Ward000002590000
6Will Futhey000000007892
9Penn Morrison000000004520
10Mark Stulley000000002110
13Haydn Shanks223002092000000
15Wade Futhey00000200000
23Phoenix Wolf000000006410
				
										
											

							 Total223002092472702222162						

									
					

			

	



		

		

			
				

																										#
														
																	Defense															
																			Sacks
													Tackles
													INT
													FGM
													FGA
															

			
							
									
										
											

							 Total00000						

									
					

			

	



			
Minford

		

		

			
				

																										#
														
																	Offense															
																			CMP
													ATT
													INT
													PYDS
													TD
													ATT
													RUYDS
													TD
													REC
													REYDS
													TD
															

			
							
					
??Tim Walk00000110000
2Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis15271245215280000
7Matthew Risner00000733051221
11Drew Skaggs000000003581
25Ty Wiget00000116013390
30Bryson Ashley0000031104260
				
										
											

							 Total152712452371331152452						

									
					

			

	



		

		

			
				

																										#
														
																	Defense															
																			Sacks
													Tackles
													INT
													FGM
													FGA
															

			
							
									
										
											

							 Total00000						

									
					

			

	
		

		

	
Details

	

		

			
				

											Date
												Time
												League
												Season
										

			
			
				

											October 25, 2019
												7:00 pm
												SEO
												2019
										

			
		

	




	

		
Venue

		

			
				

					Waverly
				

			
							
					

						
					

									
					

	

	


					


					
				



				
			
				


			
					
	
	

		

							

																			

						
			
Falcons, Tigers collide in key bout
		


		

			
Falcons, Tigers collide in key bout



	

		

			

			

						Waverly vs Minford		

				

			
		

	






By PAUL BOGGS


Photos by Rene Nemeth


Indeed, it’s awfully late in the season for bounce backs.


 


However, there’s no better time than the here and now for one, and that’s exactly where the Minford Falcons and Waverly Tigers stand entering their colossal contest on Friday night.


 


While both are 6-2, their state playoff positions are quite precarious – with their Southern Ohio Conference Division II championship hopes all but evaporated.


 


In many ways, it is a playoff game for the Falcons and Tigers, as 7-3 seasons – by one or both – might or might not be enough to qualify for this year’s postseason field.


 


Therefore, playoff points, positioning and even the feeling of relief for a lock are on the line on Friday night – as Minford meets Waverly with an amped-up and standing-room-only atmosphere anticipated inside Waverly’s renovated Raidiger Field.


 


Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.


 


The game also marks Senior Night activities at Waverly High School, as eight Tiger seniors will be recognized beforehand.


 


Both squads are coming off close losses last week, as Waverly was in a running-game shootout at SOC II leader Wheelersburg – although the Tigers trailed from opening whistle to final kneel-down and suffered a 42-28 defeat.


 


However, while that wasn’t an upset, Minford’s matchup against Oak Hill was.


 


The Falcons led 7-0 and 14-7, but the 4-4 Oaks rallied for a pair of ties – before breaking the 14-14 deadlock with a last-second field goal by Brock Harden.


 


While Waverly remained fourth in Region 15 of Division IV of the official Ohio High School Athletic Association computer ratings, and still “control their own destiny” towards a state playoff berth, the Falcons fell from fourth to six – in the OHSAA’s Division V Region 19.


 


Even with a pair of victories in their final two tilts, including against visiting Valley in the regular-season finale, the Falcons are not assured of anything – although at 8-2 their chances of qualifying are quite better.


 


Hence, both need to bounce back this week, but Minford is more desperate than are the Tigers.


 


This is the same Falcons’ squad which started 6-0 – and that took Wheelesburg to overtime in the SOC II opener, before falling 21-20 after a two-point conversion attempt failed for the win.


 


The top eight teams in each region qualify for the playoffs – with the top four squads earning first-round home bouts.


 


Minford coach Jesse Ruby remarked briefly on the Oak Hill contest, then quickly moved to focusing on the task of defending the talented Tigers.





“I don’t want to take away anything from Oak Hill. They came out and played one of their best games of the year in terms of penalties, turnovers and limiting big plays. We did not play to the level that we normally do in terms of execution, and Oak Hill took advantage of the opportunities given to them,” he said. “Our team is motivated to get back to playing the way we were throughout the season before the Oak Hill game. Practice has been upbeat and very crisp this week.”


 


The Tigers, which practiced earlier in the sunny afternoons this week with soccer tournament matches at Raidiger Field, also expressed improving upon their defensive performance against Wheelersburg.


 


	

			

	
#
1
Name
Payton Shoemaker
Position
2020
Height
5-09
Weight
155
Current Team
Waverly
Leagues
SEO, SOC2
Seasons
2019
 While Waverly standout running back Payton Shoemaker showed off in the form of 21 carries for 202 yards and four touchdowns, Wheelersburg rushed for 457 on 64 attempts as a team – with standout senior Makya Matthews outdoing Shoemaker in the form of 29 carries for 267 yards and a hat trick of scores.


 


The Tigers’ tackling could be better, as Minford comes calling with its senior standout running back – Ty Wiget.


	

			

	
#
25
Name
Ty Wiget
Position
2020
Height
5-09
Weight
175
Current Team
Minford
Leagues
SEO, SOC2
Seasons
2019


“We obviously have to do a better job of tackling, making sure we don’t put ourselves in bad positions on the defensive side. Offensively, Wheelersburg did some good things, but defensively, we have to keep getting better these last couple of weeks,” said Waverly coach Chris Crabtree. “We’re focusing on Minford now, though, and working to execute the gameplan and preparing for them to come here and have a great game.”


 


It will be another great matchup of running backs operating out of spread-the-field formation offenses.


 


Wiget was limited against the Oaks to only 61 yards and 15 carries, but he did account for both of Minford’s touchdowns – including an 8-yard run.


 


For the season, Wiget has rushed for 1,197 yards and 17 touchdowns on 167 carries, while junior quarterback Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis has added five rushing TD on 94 carries and 634 yards.


 


	

			

	
#
2
Name
Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis
Height
5-10
Weight
175
Current Team
Minford
Leagues
SEO, SOC2
Seasons
2019, 2020
 Vogelsong-Lewis has thrown for nine touchdowns on 58 completions and 104 attempts, and for 1,002 yards.


 


Crabtree commented on the similarities of the two offenses.


 


“Everything kind of runs through the Wiget kid for them, so they are similar to what we like to do. He has carried the ball quite a bit, the majority of the time actually,” said the coach. “It comes down to making sure we are in our gaps up front where we need to be. And we have to tackle the football. It’s no mystery what they are going to do. They are going to run inside zone, and they are going to throw it to (Matthew) Risner and (Drew) Skaggs on the outside and down the field. We have to be better defensively and execute and tackle better.”


 


Ruby said spreading the wealth will be of greater emphasis this week, with wide receivers Matthew Risner and Drew Skaggs seeing more footballs flying their way.


 


“Offensively, we need to focus on taking care of the little things and get back to controlling what we can control. We need to win the line of scrimmage and spread the ball around to make it difficult on their defense to just key on one or two players,” he said. “We have to be able to score touchdowns when we are given the opportunity.”


 


But, that means keeping Shoemaker off the field.





Of the Tigers’ 250 total carries this season, the five-foot nine-inch 155-pound senior Shoemaker now has 189 — while rushing for 1,668 yards and 23 touchdowns, which is good enough for almost nine yards per tote.


In addition, despite battling a knee injury all season which has hampered his mobility and even knocked him out of a game or two, junior quarterback Haydn’ Shanks has completed 83-of-135 passes for 1,282 yards and 13 touchdowns with only one interception.


	

			

	
#
13
Name
Haydn Shanks
Position
2021
Height
6-03
Weight
190
Current Team
Waverly
Leagues
SEO, SOC2
Seasons
2019, 2020


“Waverly does such a good job with getting the ball to their playmakers, whether it be in the running game or the passing game. Haydn’ Shanks is a great quarterback who can make just about any throw on the field. Their receivers are big, fast and hard to cover. Shoemaker is very dangerous in the open field, but he also has the ability to run between the tackles. When you put all of that together, their offense makes you defend the entire width and depth of the football field,” said Ruby. “With their weapons, they can score from anywhere on the field in many different ways.”


 


Crabtree was asked if ball control could be one of those ways – with Wiget, like Shoemaker, capable of breaking off a big play on any given snap.


 


“We’re designed to go fast, and time of possession isn’t something we have had a lot of concern. We score really quick and then our defense is back on the field,” he said. “There are times where we can slow it down and take the ball out of their hands, but our philosophy tends to be give our offense as many opportunities as we can. We are going to play how we play and see how it turns out.”


 


And, how this week turns out will have a monumental impact on how two weeks from now sets up – assuming one or both squads sees the regional quarterfinal round.


 


For the Tigers, it is simple.


 


Win both, and Waverly will host a Region 15 quarterfinal.





“We have a lot to take care of this week and next week. But if we do that, then postseason play sets up pretty well. There would be a really good chance we would have a home playoff game in a better region for us. Our next two weeks are very important for us to go out and play well,” said Crabtree. “It would be nice if our eight seniors get to play a playoff game here and be able to play as many as we can.”


 


The same goes for the Falcons, which can climb back into the top four of Region 19 with a win.


 


But Ruby said playoff possibilities take care of themselves – as long as they play against the Tigers like they did against Wheelersburg and unlike Oak Hill.


 


Truth be told, it’s the perfect time for a Falcon bounce back.


 


“We need to treat this game in the same way we did for the Wheelersburg game. Waverly’s team is similar to Wheelersburg, and they will be just as challenging when it comes to scoring on them and defending them,” said Ruby. “It is a game in which we need to play to the best of our ability.”


 


RankPlayerPositionATTRUYDSTD
1Payton Shoemaker2020304234432
2Hunter Ward2020212222
3Dawson Shoemaker202211550
4Jackson Poe20218247
5Trey Brushart2023270
View all players


 


RankPlayerPositionATTRUYDSTD
1Ty Wiget2020208142918
2Elijah Vogelsong-Lewis1327699
3Matthew Risner181232
4Andy Crank3480
5Bryson Ashley20207340
View all players



	
PosTeamWLPFPANet Pts
15020155146
2411819289
33284119-35
4231229032
51443164-121
60552163-111