PIQUA — West Liberty-Salem trailed early, tied the game before halftime, and lost a second-half lead before a touchdown in the game’s final minutes put the Tigers ahead for good in a 21-14 back-and-forth victory over Indian Lake Friday in a Division V, Region 20 final.
Nick Shifflet punched in the winning touchdown for WL-S from 1-yard out with 4:57 left in the fourth quarter to send the Tigers (13-1) to their first state seminal appearance in school history.
“This was a hard fought game tonight and it really could have gone went either way, and we just made enough plays at the end to win,” Tigers head coach Dan McGill said. “I want to thank the boys. Every week we go out and pray for good safety and pray they play hard, and they did that. I’m very very thankful.”
WL-S advances to play Ironton next week at a site to be determined. Ironton defeated Wheelersburg 55-0 to advance to the final four.
Josh Wilcoxon rushed 19 times for 130 yards, and Shifflet had 25 carries for 86 yards including a pair of go-ahead rushing touchdowns in the second half to help the Tigers grind out the victory.
Indian Lake (12-2) carried play throughout the first quarter and led for all but two seconds in the first half. “It was a great game, but obviously we’re disappointed with the outcome,” Lakers coach Jonn Rapp said. “I thought the guys played hard. We just made too many mistakes when we couldn’t afford to make those mistakes and didn’t capitalize when we had some chances to capitalize.”