West Liberty-Salem overcame a 14-point deficit Friday to pull out a thrilling 29-27 victory over Fairbanks to claim an outright Ohio Heritage Conference North division championship.
Gideon Cole kicked a 29-yard field goal with 11 seconds to go to give WLS (9-1, 5-0) its first lead of the game. Those last 11 seconds were all that mattered as the Tigers secured a second consecutive league championship after sharing the crown with West Jefferson a season ago.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever had a team that showed as much character and grit as what we did tonight,” Tigers head coach Dan McGill said. “I could not be prouder of these guys
and what we have achieved this season.”
Fairbanks finishes the season 7-3 overall and 4-1 in conference play, a remarkable turnaround under first-year head coach Dave Carroll from 2023 when the Panthers did not win an OHC game all season.
WL-S with the win clinches a two-seed in Division V Region 20 and could potentially host playoff games in each of the first two rounds of postseason play.
But it wasn’t easy. Like a pair of prize fighters trading blows for 12 rounds, the Panthers and Tigers clawed back and forth at each other all night.
Read the entire story in Saturday’s Examiner.