MECHANICSBURG – Jake Hurst rushed for 212 yards as top-ranked Mechanicsburg held on to beat No. 8 Greeneview, 31-21, in the Division VI, Region 24 football playoffs Saturday night.
It’s the second time the Indians have beaten the Rams this season – Mechanicsburg prevailed, 35-10, on Sept. 17.
The Indians took the opening kickoff and put together a time-consuming 68-yard scoring drive which culminated on quarterback Aaron Conley’s three-yard touchdown run.
Danny Mascadri’s successful PAT attempt gave Mechanicsburg a 7-0 lead with five minutes remaining in the first quarter.
Greeneview responded with its own long scoring drive which ended on quarterback Cole Dehaven’s six-yard TD run in which he carried a couple of Mechanicsburg defenders across the goal line.
The PAT try was wide right, and the Indians led, 7-6, with 11:50 remaining in the second quarter.
Mechanicsburg came right back with a 61-yard scoring drive which culminated on Conley’s 26-yard touchdown run.
The Indians lined up for a PAT attempt, but after Greeneview jumped offside, Mechanicsburg went for two and Hurst ran it in untouched to give the Indians a 15-6 lead with 8:04 left in the second quarter.
The teams then exchanged punts, and Greeneview later put together an 82-yard scoring drive that ended on Dehaven’s one-yard TD run.
A successful PAT cut the Indians’ lead to 15-13.
In the final 50 seconds of the first half, Mechanicsburg drove to the Greeneview 11 where Mascadri booted a 28-yard field goal that barely dropped over the crossbar to make it 18-13.
Greeneview punted on its first possession of the third quarter, and led by Hurst, the Indians marched 88 yards, the drive ending on Conley’s 17-yard TD pass to Jayden Roland.
A two-point conversion pass failed, and Mechanicsburg led, 24-13, with 5:58 remaining in the third quarter.
Greeneview responded with Dehaven running several successful quarterback draws, and the Rams scored on Dehaven’s one-yard run. Dehaven also added the two-point conversion run to make it 24-21 with 10:30 remaining in the game.
The Rams (7-5) then recovered an on-side kick and moved to the Indians 11, where they attempted a 28-yard field goal on fourth and two.
The attempted was partially blocked, which kept the score at 24-21 with 5:43 left.
On Mechanicsburg’s ensuing possession, it was Hurst, Hurst and more Hurst, who eventually scored on a six-yard run with 1:12 to play to put the game away.
For the Indians, Conley passed for 105 yards and rushed for 50.
The Indians (12-0) advance to play No. 4 Coldwater (10-2) on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Piqua.
