Wheelersburg sophomore Kenyon Evans (2) attempts to break the ankle tackle of Minford’s J.D. Matiz (12) during Friday night’s Southern Ohio Conference Division II football game at Minford High School.

Courtesy of Terry Stevenson | www.burgsports.com

MINFORD — For the Wheelersburg Pirates, per usual almost in Southern Ohio Conference Division II play, they are coming together to play their best football at exactly the right time.

On Friday night, despite the host Minford Falcons playing undermanned and outgunned, the Pirates produced an ideal “together” victory —dominating the Falcons in all three phases for a decisive 51-0 shutout inside the Falcons’ Nest.

In fact, as the Falcons punted eight times and all following three-and-out possessions, they crossed midfield only once — a nine-play second-quarter possession which was a turnover on downs, AND the only possession in which they didn’t punt aside from a three-play series in the final minute of the game.

On the flip side, the Pirates amassed 481 yards of total offense — including 314 rushing yards on 28 total attempts.

Wheelersburg had five rushing touchdowns from five different players, and twice sophomore quarterback Braylon Rucker completed first-half touchdown tosses — with senior all-purpose performer Creed Warren.

Cooper Heimbach, kicking for the injured all-Ohio first-team placekicker Connor Estep, made all seven of his extra-point kicks —his only blemish being a missed field goal with two-and-a-half seconds left before halftime.

That would have started the second half with the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s running-clock rule in effect, but no Wheelersburg worries, as the Pirates scored just three plays and a minute and 32 seconds into the third quarter — and putting the running clock on.

In other words, a week after the Pirates rolled the visiting Waverly Tigers 40-7, they made it another win over the Falcons —their 63rd over Minford in the now 69-meeting series.

Per 16-year Wheelersburg head coach Rob Woodward, this was a true “together” victory.

It was also a second straight shutout victory for the Pirates over the Falcons —following last year’s 42-0 outcome at Ed Miller Stadium in Wheelersburg.

“We had our kids practicing at a high level all week, and they went out and executed at a high level tonight. We saw our kids do a lot of things that we worked on and focused on and tried to make sure we were really good at,” said Woodward. “We talked about coming together and establishing our identity and I thought we did a good job of mixing the run and pass and setting up a lot of different opportunities for all of our athletes. It makes it hard for a defense when you have a lot of different threats out there. Our offensive line did well, our quarterback did well, our receivers and running backs did a great job. We talked about getting a shutout on defense, and I’m super proud of those guys. We held them to three-and-outs so many times. We had some great punt returns with Kenyon Evans, Cooper (Heimbach) did a great job kicking extra points and kicking the ball deep. Just a ‘together’ win for us from top-to-bottom, unit-to-unit, special teams, offense and defense. A great overall performance.”

Wheelersburg raised its record to 5-3, and remained undefeated in the SOC II at 4-0 —as both the Pirates and Falcons had their league games against Oak Hill get canceled by the Oaks.

More importantly for the tradition-rich and proud Pirates, they will play for the outright SOC II championship on Friday night —against the defending champion and visiting West Senators, which wrested that title away from the Pirates a year ago.

The 8-1 Senators are 5-0 in the division, as their 2022 SOC championship was their first such conference crown in a decade-and-a-half (2008).

More on that all-the-marbles matchup momentarily.

Even without Estep, and senior skilled player Devon Lattimore held out for precautionary injury reasons, the Pirates played well —early and often —against the short-handed Falcons.

Minford, following a 23-21 win at Division II Logan last week, was playing without arguably its top player —senior running back Jeffrey Pica, out injured with a hamstring issue.

Peyton Caudill, the speedy sophomore quarterback, did play perhaps amid widespread speculation that he wouldn’t —but he clearly wasn’t close to 100-percent.

The Pirates seized on those advantages, grounding the Falcons for a stunning minus 28 yards rushing —and minus four total yards.

Minford punted on its first five possessions, as all three of its first downs came consecutive on its aforementioned nine-play drive —the final two of which were aided by 15-yard Pirate personal-foul penalties.

But two Caudill incomplete passes ended that series at the Wheelersburg 38-yard line —the deepest territory the Falcons found all night.

“We were limited offensively and defensively in spots, but the guys we had out there gave it their best,” said Minford eighth-year head coach Jesse Ruby. “We had a decent drive where we went for it on fourth down and came up short, but those things happen when you are limited the way we were. We gave up some big plays, but with Wheelersburg having the athletes they do and the speed, quickness and agility they have, they have the ability to score from anywhere on the field. They won the battle up front defensively and offensively too, and just put us in a lot of tough situations. Hats off to Wheelersburg for doing a great job.”

Wheelersburg senior Cole Estep (65) celebrates after making a defensive tackle during the Pirates’ Southern Ohio Conference Division II football game at Minford on Friday night.

Courtesy of Terry Stevenson | www.burgsports.com

The Pirates found the end zone four first-half times — for 14 points apiece in each of the opening two quarters.

Warren bookended those 28 first-half points over the opening almost 19 minutes —on the receiving end of Rucker passes for 15-yard and 23-yard scores.

Warren’s 43-yard running dash to the house, only a minute and 38 seconds into the second period, made it 21-0.

That followed the Pirates’ longest scoring drive —a seven-play and 39-yard possession that lasted three minutes and six seconds, as Rucker called his own number from two yards out.

On the opening play of the second half, Warren took a jet sweep 44 yards to the Falcon 11 —giving him a final 94 yards on only five rushes.

He also caught six passes for 78 yards, as Rucker completed 12-of-14 passes for 166 —and added 37 yards on the ground.

Kenyon Evans excelled in the punt return game, and caught three passes for 65 yards —including a 40-yarder on the third scoring series, which put the Pirates right at the red zone.

Brayden Maxie from 10 yards away, Elijah Brown from 34 yards and Cameron Conn from 44 yards all had second-half touchdown jaunts —as Wheelersburg made it 37-0 in the third quarter, thanks to a safety.

The Falcons fell to 4-4 and 1-3 in the SOC II, and will host rival Valley on Friday night —as Minford must win if it indeed aims to qualify for the Division V Region 19 playoffs.

For the Pirates, they officially punched their Region 19 playoff ticket, and will host an opening-round game —should they defeat West.

West’s win last season was its first over Wheelersburg since 2011, and first at “The Rock” since that 2008 championship campaign.

In addition, the Senators became the first Scioto County squad to topple the Pirates since 2013 —when Valley did so and won the third of its three consecutive conference championships.

Other Pirate winning streaks to bid bye-bye were their 13 wins in a row over West —and 11 straight in the SOC II.

But now, Wheelersburg has started a new streak of four SOC wins —with its primary goal being that Gold Ball.

This week — Woodward said — will be another of practicing, playing, and for the Pirates, “hopefully winning together”.

“Winning the SOC is our number-one goal all the time. Our kids are hungry for it,” said the coach. “We will work all week to have ourselves ready to go out and deserve to win. That’s what we’ve talked about the last two weeks, deserving to win the game and ultimately deserving to win another SOC II championship.”

* * *

Wheelersburg 14 14 16 7 — 51

Minford 0 0 0 0— 0

W — Creed Warren, 15-yard pass from Braylon Rucker (Cooper Heimbach kick), 9:12, 1st (7-0 W)

W —Braylon Rucker, 2-yard run (Cooper Heimbach kick), :39, 1st (14-0 W)

W — Creed Warren, 43-yard run (Cooper Heimbach kick), 10:22, 2nd (21-0 W)

W — Creed Warren, 23-yard pass from Braylon Rucker (Cooper Heimbach kick), 5:08, 2nd (28-0 W)

W — Brayden Maxie, 10-yard run (Cooper Heimbach kick), 10:20, 3rd (35-0 W)

W — Safety, tackle in end zone, 6:53, 3rd (37-0 W)

W — Elijah Brown, 34-yard run (Cooper Heimbach kick), 2:44, 3rd (44-0 W)

W — Cameron Conn, 44-yard run (Cooper Heimbach kick), 2:50, 4th (51-0 W)

Team Statistics

W M

First downs 18 3

Scrimmage plays 43 37

Rushes-yards 28-314 22-(-28)

Passing yards 167 24

Total yards 481 -4

Cmp-Att-Int. 13-15-0 6-15-0

Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-0

Penalties-yards 8-75 5-35

Punts-Ave. 2-22.5 8-34.6

——

Individual Leaders

RUSHING —Wheelersburg: Braylon Rucker 7-37 TD, Creed Warren 5-94 TD, Cameron Conn 4-68 TD, Riley Cunningham 3-22, Elijah Brown 2-61 TD, Jake Darling 3-10, Brayden Maxie 1-10 TD, Stephen Hall 1-5, Xavier Miller 1-5, Brady Music 1-2; Minford: Randall Schreick 6-6, Mason Book 4-4, Mason Bradley 4-2, Ethan Swick 2-5, Curtis Glenn 2-(-1), Peyton Caudill 2-(-3), Team 2-(-41)

PASSING — Wheelersburg: Braylon Rucker 12-4-0-166 2TD, Cameron Conn 1-1-0-1; Minford: Peyton Caudill 5-13-0-23, Curtis Glenn 1-2-0-1

RECEIVING— Wheelersburg: Creed Warren 6-78 2TD, Kenyon Evans 3-65, Landon McGraw 1-9, Xander Mowery 1-7, Hunter Bivens 1-7, Brycen Longfellow 1-1; Minford: Mason Book 4-11, Collin Rice 1-9, J.D, Matiz 1-4

Reach Paul Boggs at (740) 353-3101 ext. 1926, by email at [email protected], or on X @paulboggssports © 2023 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved