Ligon's big 4th quarter plays lifts Cavs past Pirates, 26-18

CHILLICOTHE — For a game that was billed to be a classic, it certainly met those expectations and even exceeded them.

Chillicothe's Cartae Ligon provided the big plays needed — especially down the stretch —as the Cavaliers rallied back in the final minutes to beat the Wheelersburg Pirates 26-18 in an instant classic on Friday night at Herrnstein Field.

The loss moved Wheelersburg's record to 1-1 and snapped a streak of 15-game regular season wins. For Chillicothe, they're 2-0 now for the first time since the 2022 season.

"We got a good football team, we just didn't do the things we need to do to win a big football game," said Pirate head coach Rob Woodward. "We've got to progress and get better throughout the season."

Despite taking a 3-0 lead in the first quarter off a 49-yard field goal from Cameron Conn, the Pirates trailed for much of the game and found themselves struggling to gain any offensive footing.

Aided by two personal foul penalties on the Pirates, the Cavs (2-0) would answer with a score of their own to take the lead. Tay Harris would negotiate the final 5 yards of the 8-play drive to make it 6-0 with 1:11 remaining in the first quarter.

The second quarter would turn into a defensive slugfest that saw offenses find it hard to convert first downs and commit drive-killing penalties.

Chillicothe would go on to take a 6-3 lead into the locker room.

In the third, the Cavs would extend their lead on back-to-back plays from Ligon.

The first came on the defensive side, when Ligon stepped in front of a slant pass around the 40 and returned the ball to the Pirate 4.

On the next play, Ligon got a handoff and scored to make it 12-3 with 1:14 remaining in the third.

Down but not out, the Pirates would fight back in the fourth and make a comeback of their own.

"I thought we started to take the game over in that fourth quarter. We had some plays that got us back into it. But then they had some plays that went their way at the end and made the difference," said Woodward.

Wheelersburg would use a 10-play, 75-yard drive and two critical passing interference calls on Chillicothe to march down the field and score to draw closer.

Jack Doerr would call his own number and reach the ball over the goal line for a six-yard score. Then Conn came on to kick the extra point and make it 12-10 with 8:17 remaining in the game.

Then on the ensuing kickoff, Conn's kick hit at the one yard line and bounced back into the field of play and allowed Jaythan King to recover the ball at the 3 yard line.

On the next play, Hall surged in behind the middle of his offensive line to put the Pirates back ahead.

Hall had his number called again on the two-point play and walked in again to make it 18-12.

Hall finished the game with a team-high 62 yards on the ground to go along with his score.

Now needing a big play of their own, the Cavs turned to none other than Ligon.

The junior running back would touch the ball 8 of the 9 plays on the drive and help the Cavs march 65 yards to answer. Ligon's final run would be a score from 3 yards out to make it an 18-all game.

However, Ligon would be stuffed a half yard shy on the two-point conversion try by Jonah Collier and Wyatt Neff to keep the score even with 4:41 remaining.

Wheelersburg would move their way just into Cavs territory, but face a third-and-three play at the 43.

Doerr would make a play fake and try to hit Campbell down the seam, but in stepped Ligon with a leaping interception and zig-zagged this way through traffic and returned the ball 65 yards to the Pirate 5.

On the next play, Ligon walked in to put the Cavs back up on top.

Harris would run in for the two points to make the score 26-18 with 1:21 to go.

The turf would strike again on the kickoff as the ball would take a high hop over the returners head and allowed Coby Suwannasing to recover it at the 20.

The Cavs ran out the final 75 seconds to secure the win and bring on the celebration.

Ligon was the top offensive player of the night, finishing with 159 yards rushing on 27 carries and reached pay dirt 3 times. Ligon also finished with two of the three of the interceptions the Cavs had. The other pick came from Karter Williams on a tipped ball in the first quarter.

Ligon's performance got praise from Woodward as well.

"Hats off to Carte (Ligon). He's a great player and a great athlete who can make plays."

While the loss was a hard one to take, Woodward said the teams' mindset was simple moving forward.

"Bottom line, we've got a good football team and we played a great game tonight, but didn't make enough plays to win. So now we've got to get back to work and get better on Monday."

The Pirates will be back at home next Friday against the Jackson Ironmen.

Wheelersburg 3 0   0   15 = 18

Portsmouth 6   0   6  14 = 26

First Quarter

Wh — Cameron Conn 41 field goal, 4:24.

Ch — Tay Harris 5 run (kick no good), 1:11.

Third Quarter

Ch — Cartae Ligon 4 run (kick blocked), 1:14.

Fourth Quarter

Wh — Jack Doerr 6 run (Cameron Conn kick), 8:17.

Wh — Stephen Hall 3 run (Hall run), 8:13.

Ch — Cartae Ligon 3 run (run failed), 4:41.

Ch — Cartae Ligon 5 run (Harris run), 1:19.

—————

            Wh Ch

First downs 10 16

Rushes yards 38-107 39-179

Passing yards 43 69

Total yards 150 248

Cmp-Att-In 5-15-3 6-11-0

Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-1

Penalties 8-95 10-100

Punts-average 4-37.0 5-34.0

———————

Individual Leaders

RUSHING—Wheelersburg: Stephen Hall 19-62 TD, Brady Music 3-13, Jack Doerr 8-11 TD, Canaan Arthur 5-17, Cameron Conn 2-4; Chillicothe: Cartae Ligon 27-159 3TD, Owen Wood 1-minus 6, Tay Harris 8-32 TD, Trace McCallister 1-0, Team 1-minus 6.

PASSING—Wheelersburg: Jack Doerr 6-14-3 43, Cameron Conn 0-1-0 0; Chillicothe: Tay Harris 6-11-0 69.

RECEIVING—Wheelersburg: Xavier Miller 2-38, Jonah Collier 1-minus 3, Cameron Conn 1-minus 2, Gabe Campbell 1-10; Chillicothe: Cartae Ligon 1-14, Karter Williams 5-55.

MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.