The West Liberty-Salem defense bent, but it didn’t break Friday as the Tigers won 3-0 over visiting West Jefferson in a Division V regional quarterfinal playoff matchup.

The Tigers (11-0) advance to the regional semifinal against St. Henry on Friday at a site yet to be determined. Official game sites will be announced Sunday on www.ohsaa.org. This is the second time in three seasons WL-Salem has reached the regional semifinals.

It was fitting that the backbone of the WL-Salem football team played such an intricate role in Friday’s victory as the defense came up with several key stops throughout the game.

With the Tigers ahead 3-0 in the fourth quarter, the Roughriders (9-2) went on an 87-yard drive only to be turned away on fourth and goal from the two-yard line with 6:04 left in the game.

“Our kids have played that way all year long,” said WL-Salem head coach Toby Smith. “They had their backs to the wall and stepped up did what they needed to do. They are just a bunch of hard-nosed football players.”

After a short drive by the Tigers, West Jefferson began a drive from their own 36-yard line and reached WL-Salem’s 32-yard line with 1:32 remaining in the game. But the Tiger defense came through again and prevented the Roughriders from reaching the end zone.

West Jefferson turned the ball over on downs and WL-Salem was able to take a knee with 10 seconds left in the game and get the win.

“When you get in the red zone you have to score,” said Wet Jefferson head coach Shawn Buescher. “We had our shots and we made some mistakes.

“When you go up against a defense as good as theirs you have to take advantage of your opportunities and we didn’t do that.”

For the complete game story, pickup a copy of Saturday's Examiner.

CLICK HERE to subscribe today!