Salineville - Sometime it's the little things that matter. For the Wellsville Tigers it was only a matter of about two inches that kept them for winning, as Southern Local pulled out a physically grueling 14-12 vicyory. With less than two mintues to play in the game, Wellsville was faced with a fourth and three from the Southern 22-yard line. The Indian defense would stop running back Brandan Edison just short of the first down mark, and then run out the clock to close the season with a 7-3 record. Wellsville finishes with the identical record.
The game began with the Tigers looking dominate with back-to-back scores in the first quarter, and early in the second quarter as they took a 12-0 advantage. The first score came on a 8-yard run by Edison at the 3:10 mark of the first, then Bubba Dowling scored on a 12-yard run with 11:22 left in the second. Dowling would lead the Tigers with 111 yards rushing.
Southern would answer back after the second Tigers tally. They would go 62-yards on 11 plays to score on a Dylan Puckett 2-yard plunge with 5:55 left in the half. Wellsville would threaten just before the half, but they had three incomplete pass doom they're effort.
Southern would miss a 24-yard field goal attempt early in the fourth, before they would finally score the game winning points. Facing a fourth and one at the Wellsville 42, quarterback Mike McVay would fake the handoff to Melhorne and race around right end 42-yards for the touchdown. Up to that point, Melhorn had amassed 116 yards rushing on 31 carries.
The win gives Southern they're second winning season in three years, while the Tigers saw any sliver of playoff hope be washed away with the loss. Both coaches remarked about the grueling physical nature of the contest that only saw seven pass attempts combined by both teams.
The Crestview Rebels survived a shoot-out with the very talented United Eagles by winning 44-35, while South Range tied the Rebels for first place with a 27-14 win over the Mineral Ridge Rams. Ironically, the Raiders and Rebels may in for a re-match next week in the OHSAA playoffs.
Columbiana held on to second place in the ITCL Upper Tier by beating rival East Palestine 39-13 in impressive fashion. The Springfield Tigers finished they're season with a hard fought 15-12 victory over a very determined Lisbon squad. The win give the Tigers a 500 season, while the Devils suffered a very disappointing 0-10 campaign.
Mcdonald continued to roll as they downed the Lowellville Rockets 43-6, while Leetonia and Western Reserev held on to they're second place standing with victories. Leetonia squeaked by a stubborn Jackson-Milton team 20-14, and Reserve won big over the Sebring Trojans 51-19.
Finally, the Southern Local Indians beat back-yard rival Wellsville in a slug fest 14-12. The win improves the Indians record to 7-3, second best in team history, while the Tigers lost any hope of qualifying for the post-season.
Next week the OHSAA playoffs will begin, and ITCLFootball.net will attempt to bring ITCL fans full coverage of the teams and games that are important to us all. Good Luck to our ITCL teams in the playoffs, and THANK YOU to all the seniors who concluded they're high school careers tonight!!!