Wheelersburg’s perfect season comes to an end in Canton
By: Donovan Varney
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CANTON, Ohio (WOUB) — After five long weeks of playoff action, the Wheelersburg Pirates (14-0) traveled to Canton to face the 2023 and 2024 State Runners-Up, Liberty Center Tigers (14-0), in the Div. V State Championship. After a dominant showing, Liberty Center won their second State Championship in school history, 35-3.
The Pirates drive opened with a nine-yard completion from quarterback Braylon Rucker to tight end Landon McGraw. An eight-yard run from Elijah Brown moved the sticks, but after three-straight stops on defense the Tigers forced Wheelersburg to punt.
Liberty Center got their offense moving on their second drive of the game. Quarterback Kaden Kreinbrink completed a 13-yard pass to Ethan Gray to move the chains for the Tigers.
Later, a 34-yard heave to Isaiah Badenhop put Liberty Center in scoring position, where Thomas Mohler punched in the first touchdown of the game from one-yard out. Liberty Center took a 7-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Pirates tried to make a push with another completion to McGraw for 12 yards. After Max Walker sacked Rucker on second down, a third down incompletion forced the Pirates to punt from inside the 20-yard line.
Liberty Center capitalized on the good field position and in just four plays the Tigers found the endzone. Kreinbrink connected with Jaxton Lawniczak for a 43-yard score. Liberty Center took a 14-0 lead early in the second.
Wheelersburg got on the scoreboard after a 28-yard run from Stephen Hall set up a 45-yard field goal from Cooper Heimbach. The Pirate kick narrowed Liberty Center’s lead to just 11.
On the ensuing drive Liberty Center put together the longest drive of the game. After starting at their own 28, the Tigers spent over eight minutes on their march down the field. They converted on fourth down twice, and after a touchdown run got called back, Liberty Center completed their first pass of the drive to Jaxton Lawniczak for a 16-yard touchdown.
Lawniczak’s second touchdown of the night came with only seven seconds left in the half. The Tigers went into the locker room up 21-3.
Wheelersburg Head Coach Rob Woodward knew they had to make adjustments during the break.
“We looked to make adjustments as best we could,” Woodward said. “We had a few breakdowns here and there that gave them some opportunities that they were able to capitalize on.”
The stats at halftime reflected the Tiger’s dominance thus far. Wheelersburg had only 82 yards of offense compared to Liberty Center’s 214. In addition to that, the Tigers had the ball for over double the amount of time the Pirates did.
Wheelersburg received the second half kick at their own 42-yard line after a personal foul on Liberty Center. The Pirates went three and out, giving the ball back to the Tigers who also went three and out.
After a couple of slow drives, Liberty Center was able to bring some excitement back to their offense. On the first play of their drive, Thomas Mohler exploded up the middle for a 41-yard run to put the ball inside the Wheelersburg 20-yard line.
In just a matter of plays, Garrison Kruse ran in from seven yards out to extend the Tiger lead to 25.
The Pirates finally got their offense going after the Tiger score. Rucker threw for three big completions, including a 35-yard catch by Xavier Miller in double coverage, and got Wheelersburg across midfield and into opponent territory.
After being pressured, Rucker escaped the pocket and took a shot to wide receiver Kenyon Evans in the endzone, but the pass was intercepted.
The Tigers entered the fourth quarter up 28-3.
Liberty Center capitalized off of the Rucker interception with a three-yard rush from Garrison Kruse for his second touchdown of the night. The officials issued a running clock for the remainder of the game.
Despite the loss, Coach Woodward was proud of his team and believes his team’s legacy is defined by their work ethic.
“They have worked to get themselves to this point,” Woodward said. “They’ve shown that you can face adversity and continue to strive and work through doubt that people may have.”
The Liberty Center offense had a big night in all facets. Mohler and Kruse combined for 183 yards on the ground and three touchdowns. Kreinbrink was 8/12 with 143 yards passing and two touchdowns.
Wheelersburg only had 49 yards on the ground as a team, while Rucker added 94 yards passing with no touchdowns.
The Pirates are graduating 15 seniors including Rucker, Evans, and Elijah Brown. Though they will be returning key players such as Xavier Miller, Hunter Lawson, and Brew Hanzel.