MARIETTA — An offensive shootout was on in the Division V match-up of No. 4 seed Monroe Central and no. 5 seed Wheelersburg at Marietta College on Friday night. The Pirates took home the 52-42 first round victory in a track meet of nearly 900 yards of offense, that took nearly three hours to complete.

Big play after big play was pulled off by both squads as the lead changed six times in the contest.

The decisive factor for the Pirates was their speed, allowing them to out-rush Monroe Central 386 yards to 234. Wheelersburg playmakers Tyler Lang, Tyler Craigmiles and Brandon Schankweiler each racked up 100-plus yards on the ground, combining for six touchdowns.

A safety and a Craigmiles 48-yard reception from Lang also put points on the board as the Pirates answered the aerial attack of the Seminoles.

"We hit Craigmiles on the big touchdown pass early and that kind of set the tone for us," Wheelersburg coach Rob Woodward said. "But still we got back to just running the football and our kids did a tremendous job of that."

Neither team's offense could be slowed down, let alone stopped in the first half. Monroe Central opened the game with a score but 'Burg answered by driving the ball 65 yards in a series free of third downs.

The Pirates committed just one turnover, a lost fumble, and punted only once on the night. In fact, both teams played efficient football, each penalized just once.

The Seminoles kept up with Wheelersburg thanks to two acrobatic catches along the sidelines, one for a touchdown. Woodward wasn't sure if Pirates were fated to win after the fortunate receptions for Monroe Central.

"I thought the stars and the moon are just not aligned for us tonight, we could have picked (one catch) off and he caught that right on the sideline," Woodward said. "I told our defensive backs to make their receivers earn catches and boy did that kid earn that catch. That just shows the type of preparation a team has and that was a good football team."

By the second half the Seminoles' quarterback as well as some of his teammates were dinged up. The combination of Wheelersburg's defensive pressure and Monroe Central's injuries made the Seminoles less effective offensively.

"We took the opening drive down the field then just kept answering, answering, answering," Monroe Central coach Jay Circosta said. "I'm very proud of how our kids played tonight, they have nothing to be ashamed of."

Wheelersburg took control of the contest at the beginning of the fourth quarter while on defense. With the scoreboard reading 38-34 Pirates Craigmiles snuck in from the blind side and cause a fumble on a sack, and made the recovery.

"We were all fired up after I got that sack," Craigmiles said. "I was pretty winded but they called on me... and I was ready to go."

Three running plays later, number 22 Craigmiles went 22 yards straight up the middle, shedding tacklers, all the way to the end zone. The touchdown put the Pirates ahead 45-34 with 10:19 remaining.

Both squads scored again but Wheelersburg sealed the victory when Ryan Scott recovered a Seminole fumble with three minutes to play. Pirate quarterback and the game's leading rusher, Lang (158 yards), credits the playoff win to the guys up front.

"I knew my line would open up holes and they did all night," Lang said. "All the credit in the world to our line. Left, right, down the middle, when we needed big plays they opened up the holes for us."

All but one lineman will return for the Pirates in 2010, there is much to look forward to in Porter Township.

The Pirates take on Fredricktown next Friday on neutral turf in round two of region 15 action.

Wheelersburg 14 7 10 21 — 52

Monroe Central 7 14 13 8 — 42

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

MC — Hogue 2 run (Dierkes kick) 9:23

W — Craigmiles 1 run (Leach kick) 5:56

W — Craigmiles 48 from Lang (Leach kick) 2:50

Second Quarter

MC — Kinchen 3 run (Dierkes kick) 10:14

W — Lang 49 run (Leach kick) 8:22

MC — Dierkes 5 run (Dierkes kick) :35

Third Quarter

MC— Dierkes 4 run (Dierkes kick) 8:56

W — Safety 5:19

W — Schankweiler 1 run (conversion run) 4:25

MC — Duffy 65 from Dierkes (kick failed) 3:21

Fourth Quarter

W — Schankweiler 3 run (Leach kick) 11:56

W — Craigmiles 22 run (Leach kick) 10:19

M — Headley 19 from Dierkes (conversion run) 7:47

W — Lang 1 run (Leach kick) 3:35

Individual Statistics

RUSHING — W; Lang 12-158, Craigmiles 18-124, Shankweiler 23-104, Walker 1-0. MC; Kinchen 12-89, Dierkes 14-129, Hogue 3-8, Hill 1-8.

PASSING — W; Lang 2-4-0 80. MC; Dierkes 16-23-0 153.

RECEIVING — W; Stegman 1-32, Cragimiles 1-48. MC; T.Kinchen 5-31, Duffy 5-105, T. Kinchen 2-23, Headley 4-57.

Records — Wheelersburg 9-2, Monroe Central 9-2