Pirates finish incredible season as Division 5 runners-up
- Staff
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
CANTON — One way or another, Wheelersburg's memorable playoff run was set to come to an end.
Unfortunately, it just didn't end the way everyone wanted.
The Liberty Center Tigers used a diverse attack on offense and the defense stymied the Pirates to win 35-3 and claim the Ohio Division 5 state championship on Saturday night at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
The win completed the Tigers quest to bring home a title after finishing runners-up in the previous two seasons. The title is their second in school history, with their first coming in 1997.
Pirates coach Rob Woodward praised Liberty Center on their win.
"Liberty Center is a good football team. They've been here the last three seasons for a reason. They've got a group of seniors that are really established and experienced, much like our guys. They've played and been in tough situations, they've just been a little farther than us each year."
The Tigers got a spark on their second possession of the night with an 11-play, 61-yard drive to grab the first points of the game.
During the drive, the Tigers converted two 3rd downs and overcame a 1st-and-20 following a holding penalty.
Four plays later, Thomas Mohler took a handoff on 1st-and-goal, was hit at the goal line but spun off into the end zone for the 1-yard score. Max Walker added the extra point to make it 7-0 with 2:06 left in the opening frame.
Liberty Center (15-0) added to their lead on their next possession, as Krienbrink hit tight end Jaxton Lawniczak for a 44-yard touchdown strike to extend their lead to 14-0.
Krienbrink and Lawniczak would connect one more time for a 16-yard touchdown to close out the first half, where Lawniczak was able to get a foot down in the end zone.
"We just couldn't quite get that stop," said Woodward.
Down 14-0, the Pirates put together a drive for what would be their only points of the game.
Stephen Hall caught a pass from Braylon Rucker for 9 yards on first down. Then Hall broke free and raced up the sideline for 28 yards to the Tigers 36. Then Brown followed with a barreling run of 8 yards a play later.
The Pirates couldn't move the ball any further and opted to let Cooper Heimbach come on and drill a 45-yard field goal to cut into the Liberty Center lead and make the score 14-3 with 8:41 left before halftime.
But the Tigers came right back and put together a methodical 18-play, 72-yard drive to score again on Lawniczak's second touchdown grab.
Liberty Center's offense was able to not only convert third down conversions, but their defense made sure Wheelersburg did not. For the game, the Tigers offense converted 10-of-14, while the Pirates were held to 0-for-7.
"Offensively, we didn't get those third downs that we needed to have. They were patient, I knew they would be patient and look to exploit where they could," said Woodward. "Defensively, we just couldn't get the stops we needed."
The Tigers' ground game began to take over in the second half as Garrison Kruse and Tyler Mohler touched the ball on 13 of the 21 offensive plays that Liberty Center ran in the second half and combined for 93 yards.
Kruse scored both second half touchdowns from short range.
The Pirates had one other opportunity to add points in the late stages of the third and came up empty.
Rucker went to work through the air with a heave on a 2nd down play to Xavier Miller, who went up and hauled in a 35-yard grab. Then Rucker hit Landon McGraw for 18 more and Kenyon Evans for a gain of 11 to the Tiger 14.
But the Tigers' defense would come up with a sack and then Kellen Wymer would pick off a pass by Rucker in the end zone for the touchback and thwart the scoring chance.
Even though the season ended with a bad memory, senior linebacker Ison Emnett said he'll always keep moments like the community pep rally in his mind forever.
"At the pep rally on Thursday or Friday, I could just see the joy in all our fans and everyone coming down there to just support us," said Emnett. "They're not there because we're winning football games, they're there for the community, they're there for the team, they're there for the seniors."
For senior lineman Ryan Meeker, he will remember the closeness this senior class had.
"Brotherhood we've gain over the years. Every single person on that team is tight and it's been great,"said Meeker. "I wouldn't want to play with anyone else.
Woodward had one word to describe the legacy of this senior class.
"Work."
"They worked to get themselves to this point. Last year, we started the season 0-3 against the toughest schedule that we've had. Throughout they didn't falter. They continued to work and got themselves to the regional championship game. It didn't end the way we wanted," said Woodward. "They came back, worked and got themselves at the start of the season, one week at a time and got themselves all the way to the state championship game."
Liberty Center 7 14 7 7 = 35
Wheelersburg 0 3 0 0 = 3
First Quarter
LC — Thomas Mohler 1 run (Max Walker kick), 2:09.
Second Quarter
LC — Jaxton Lawniczak 44 pass from Kaden Kreinbrink (Max Walker kick), 10:27.
Wh — Cooper Heimbach 45 field goal, 8:47.
LC — Jaxton Lawniczak 16 pass from Kaden Kreinbrink (Max Walker kick), 0:07.
Third Quarter
LC — Garrison Kruse 9 run (Max Walker kick), 5:26.
Fourth Quarter
LC — Garrison Kruse 3 run (Max Walker kick), 6:12.
———
LC Wh
First Downs 19 3
Rushes-yards 47-216 20-49
Passing yards 143 94
Total yards 359 143
Cmp-Att-Int 8-12-0 6-13-1
Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 3-35 3-25
Punts-Ave. 2-46.5 4-43.5
Time of Poss. 31:23 16:37
———
Individual Leaders
RUSHING — Liberty Center: Thomas Mohler 14-95 TD, Kaden Kreinbrink 4-6, Garrison Kruse 22-84 2-TD, Baxter Barrett 5-34; Wheelersburg: Elijah Brown 7-26, Braylon Rucker 8-minus 14, Stephen Hall 1-28, Xavier Miller 2-7, Brady Music 2-2.
PASSING — Liberty Center: Kaden Kreinbrink 8-12-0 143 2-TD; Wheelersburg: Braylon Rucker 6-13-1 94.
RECEIVING— Liberty Center: Ethan Gray 3-40, Isaiah Badenhop 1-34, Jaxton Lawniczak 2-60 2-TD, Garrison Kruse 2-9; Wheelersburg: Kenyon Evans 1-11, Landon McGraw 3-39, Stephen Hall 1-9, Xavier Miller 1-35,
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