MARIA STEIN – There was a glimmer of hope early for the eighth-seeded West Liberty-Salem Tigers against top-seeded Marion Local Friday night in the Division VI, Region 24 football playoffs.
Then, the Flyers made sure to snuff that out and cruised to a 34-7 victory.
Marion Local (10-1) took an early lead when Nate Moeller scored from a yard out, but a big kickoff return by West Liberty-Salem’s Levi Moell put the Tigers (6-5) in Flyers’ territory to begin the ensuing drive.
A few plays later, Brandon Wolfe took a sweep to the outside and scored from 25 yards away to tie the game at 7-7.
“It was exciting to see that happen,” WL-S Coach Dan McGill said. “The kids played hard. These guys have played as hard as they can every game. They have maximized their talent.”
The elation was short lived, as it was all Marion Local from there.
The Flyers scored on a 23-yard pass, then picked off a pass and returned it to the WL-S 8-yard line. Duane Leugers scored without being touched and it was quickly 20-7 after a missed PAT.
The score remained stagnant for the remainder of the first quarter, with Marion Local driving near the end of the period. The Flyers scored to open the second quarter with a bang on a 4-yard run.
Late in the half, Marion Local picked up a fourth down on short yardage and later fired a 13-yard strike into the end zone to make it 34-7 at the intermission.
“Our goal was to shorten the game and give ourselves a chance to get it at the end,” McGill said. “The kids held up. Things got rough and I was proud of how hard our kids came back in the second half and played to the whistle.”
The second half consisted of the teams moving the ball for a while and then turning it over on downs, with neither able to put points on the board.
Late in the game, McGill sent his seniors out to begin the game’s final series, then called timeout and allowed them to leave to a standing ovation.
“They have great character. That’s the best senior leadership that I’ve seen at this level,” he said. “They provided a chemistry on this team that was not a hierarchy of classes, but a family. They did a good job of teaching the freshmen, taking them under their wing.”
