West Muskingum dominates Fairland to advance to Regional Semi-final
By: Thomas Billington
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PROCTORVILLE, Ohio (WOUB) — The Fairland Dragons hosted the West Muskingum Tornadoes, in an OSHAA region 11 playoff matchup. The Dragons headed into the matchup with only one loss on the season while the Tornados went in with a second of eight wins and two loses.
Once the game started, both teams were on top of the action. Fairland started with the ball and were given ideal field position with a punt that was short. Whilst Fairland tried to capitalize, the Dragons would turnover on downs after less than a minute of play.
The Tornadoes tried to find the endzone early but their movements were not being aided by the tough and aggressive Fairland defense. West Muskingum was only able to make it the midfield before being forced to punt the ball.
The Dragons received the ball again, but were unable to mount much offensive and punt the ball off. The punt fell onto Fairland’s side of the field, giving West Muskingum a golden opportunity.
Aided by the punt, the Tornadoes drove all the way to the Dragons own 30-yard-line. A penalty on Fairland pushed West Muskingum deeper into Dragons territory. The Tornadoes found the end zone, but the touchdown was called back on another penalty. West Muskingum went for it on fourth-and -14, but weren’t successful.
The game was scoreless going into the second quarter. Both teams continued to punt the ball back and forth throughout the early stages.
The Tornadoes found the mark with a little more than four minutes left in the half, getting into the endzone off the back of a 78 yard touchdown reception. It ended the game’s scoreless streak. The extra point was good, making the score 7-0 in favor of the visitors.
West Muskingum tried to score once more before the half was out as they attempted to score a field goal. But the Dragons blocked the attempt.
The second half of the game was a reversal of the first, as the Tornadoes scored multiple times throughout the half.
The final score of the game was 33-7 in favor of West Muskingum. They’ll face Wheelersburg next Friday.