THE PLAINS — Elijah Brown scored twice, the Wheelersburg defense stifled the run, and the Pirates defeated the West Muskingum Tornadoes 30-14 in the Division V region 19 semifinals on Friday night at Athens Joe Burrow Stadium.
The win gives the Pirates a record of 9-4 and now advance to the regional finals where they will face rival Ironton. Next Friday's game will take place at South Point's Alumni Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:00 P.M.
This will be the Pirates third trip in four seasons to the regional finals.
The Tornadoes (9-3) came into the game with a tough rushing attack, but were held to just 94 yards on the ground.
West Muskingum grabbed the early lead in the first quarter, using a 13-play drive that spanned 78 yards for the games' first points. Carter Winland muscled in from 1-yard out on the 13th play of the drive to put the Tornadoes ahead.
The Pirates wouldn't crack into the scoring column until early in the second quarter, when Brown powered in from 2-yards behind the block of fullback Ison Emnett and the left side of the offensive line.
Brown finished with a game-high 88 yards on the ground on 22 carries. The junior back added his second rushing score to cap off Wheelersburg's opening drive of the second half and give the Pirates a 21-7 cushion.
The Pirates began to take control of the game in the second frame.
Facing a third-and-7, Braylon Rucker would provide the Pirates with a huge play on a QB keeper off an option read. The junior cut into the hole, then bounced to the outside and raced up the Pirate bench 41-yards before being knocked out at the 1.
But Rucker would get the final yard on the next play, as he nosed in from 1-yard to give the Pirates the lead. Rucker would hit Xander Mowery on a crossing route for the 2-point play to give Wheelersburg a 14-7 lead with 3:25 before halftime.
The Tornadoes tried to climb back into the game on their opening drive of the second half. The drive spanned 16 plays and consumed 7 minutes. But the drive stalled out at the Pirates 24 after a Jake Anton's fourth down pass into the end zone sailed incomplete.
West Muskingum would finally get a break in the fourth quarter.
Connor Hill would field a punt and zig-zag his way 32 yards on the return to give the Tornadoes the ball at the Pirates 39.
Three plays later, Anton would hit Carter Smith on a wide receiver screen pass, and Smith would evade two tacklers and dive his way across the goal line for the score with 9:29 left in the game. Silas Kuhn added the extra point to make the score 21-14.
West Muskingum got the ball back following a missed field goal by the Pirates.
But sacks from Logan Evans and Alex Welch would drive the Tornadoes backwards to their own 11 and force them to punt.
On the ensuing snap, the ball sailed over the punters' head through the end zone for a safety to give Wheelersburg a 23-14 lead and the free kick.
Emnett put the finishing touches on the win, barreling 13-yards to pay dirt for the score with 1:08 remaining. Cooper Heimbach added the extra point to round out the final score.
Pirates now playing in 18th all-time regional championship and 3rd in 4 years
Last playoff meeting was 2021 in Region 19 semifinals at Portsmouth - Ironton led 14-3 at halftme before Pirates won 17-14.
Wheelersburg 0 14 7 9 = 30
West Muskingum 7 0 0 7 = 14
First Quarter
WM — Carter Winland 1 run (Silas Kuhn kick), 4:28.
Second Quarter
Wh — Elijah Brown 2 run (kick failed), 10:10.
Wh — Braylon Rucker 1 run (Xander Mowery pass from Braylon Rucker), 3:25.
Third Quarter
Wh — Elijah Brown 3 run (Cooper Heimbach kick), 8:04.
Fourth Quarter
WM — Carter Smith 26 pass from Jake Anton (Silas Kuhn kick), 9:29.
Wh — Safety (high punt snap out of end zone), 4:36.
Wh — Ison Emnett 13 run (Cooper Heimbach kick), 1:08.
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Wh WM
First Downs 15 17
Rushes-yards 41-225 34-94
Passing yards 20 159
Total yards 245 253
Cmp-Att-Int. 2-5-0 13-21-0
Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 7-45 9-82
Punts-Avg. 2-36.5 3-17
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Individual Leaders
RUSHING — Wheelersburg: Elijah Brown 22-88 2TD, Braylon Rucker 11-87 TD, Drew Emnett 8-50 TD; West Muskingum: Carter Windland 17-68 TD, Jake Anton 16-23, Braxton Brownrigg 1-3
PASSING — Wheelersburg: Braylon Rucker 2-4-0-20, Jack Doerr 0-1-0-0; West Muskingum: Jake Anton 13-21-0-159 TD
RECEIVING — Wheelersburg: Kenyon Evans 1-10, Elijah Brown 1-10; West Muskingum: Tavin Bennett 5-52, Conner Hill 3-36, Wes Houston 2-13, Carter Smith 1-26 TD, Coleman Lloyd 1-26, Braxton Brownrigg 1-6
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