Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

McDERMOTT — The clock was ticking.

On the line was a Southern Ohio Conference Division 1 football title, the school’s second unbeaten regular season and a higher ranking in the computer playoffs.

All of this was facing the Symmes Valley Vikings who were trailing 13-9 late in the fourth quarter. But just like they have all season, the Vikings found a way to win as they scored with 16 seconds to play and beat the Northwest Mohawks 15-13 as they accomplished all three goals.

Symmes Valley (9-0, 4-0) will now host the KIPP Columbus Jaguars (6-4) on Saturday in the first round of the Division 6 postseason playoffs.

One of the Jaguars’ losses was 29-20 at home against Portsmouth West.

“We have not been behind all year except the last two games and we needed that. Everybody is good now so we have to eliminate the mistakes and the penalties. But. I couldn’t be any prouder of our kids,” said Vikings’ coach Rusty Webb.

Symmes Valley took the lead with 4:33 left in the first quarter as Ethan Patterson got loose on a 20-yard scoring run. Gavan Yates kicked the conversion for the 7-0 lead.

It was Yates who added to the lead with 4:42 left in the half when he kicked a 26-yard field goal and it was now 9-0.

Northwest (5-4, 3-1) cut the deficit to 9-7 when quarterback Austin Newman ran 1-yard for a touchdown with 4:16 left in the third quarter. Jay Jenkins kicked the conversion.

The Mohawks took a 13-9 lead with 8:46 to play on a 2-yard run by Brayden Cambell. However, the two-point conversion pass from Newman to Cambell was incomplete and the Vikings still trailed by just 4 points.

The Vikings turned the ball over on its own 26-yard line with 3:50 to play. But Northwest elected to try for the first down on a fourth-and-one

“We told our kids we have to make a stand here,” said Webb. “The kids did an outstanding job. On fourth-and-one, we threw them for a 2-yard loss.”

Symmes Valley got the ball at the Northwest 34 and began its winning drive.

Grayson Walsh matching his quarterback counterpart with a 1-yard run for the go-ahead touchdown with just 16 seconds left to play.

Patterson’s 2-point conversion run was stopped but the Vikings still had the 15-13 lead.

“We took as much time off the clock as we could so that we wouldn’t leave them any time to work with,” said Webb.

Both teams utilized their running games. The Vikings had 219 rushing yards on 45 attempts while the Mohawks ran 48 times for 259 yards.

Patterson led all rushers with 141 yards on 25 attempts with Levi Niece getting 53 yards on 9 tries.

Northwest’s Wyatt Brackman ran 16 times for 101 yards, Newman 14 times for 97 and Cambell 12 times for 49 yards.

Walsh was 4-of-6 passing for 22 yards and Newman 3-of-5 for 35 yards — all to Cambell.

Sym. Valley    6          3          0          6          =          15

Northwest       0          0          7          6          =          13

First Quarter

SV – Ethan Patterson 20 run (Gavan Yates kick) 4:33

Second Quarter

SV – Gavan Yates 26 field goal 4:42

Third Quarter

NW – Austin Newman 1 run (Jay Jenkins kick) 4:16

Fourth Quarter

NW – Brayden Cambell 2 run (pass failed) 8:46

WV – Grayson Walsh 1 run (run failed) 0:16

——

SV       NW

First downs     14        16

Rushes-yards  45-219 48-259

Passing yards  22        35

Total yards      241      294

Cmp-Att-Int    4-6-0   3-5-0

Penalties-yards            9-80     4-30

Time of possession     25:01   22:51

——

Individual Leaders

RUSHING —Symmes Valley: Ethan Patterson 25-141 TD, Levi Niece 9-53, Grayson Walsh 10-21 TD, Sam McCleese 1-4; Northwest: Wyatt Brackman 16-101, Austin Newman 14-97 TD, Brayden Cambell 12-49, Alex Baer 3-12, Jesse Copas 3-0.

PASSING — Symmes Valley: Grayson Walsh 4-6-0 22; Northwest: Austin Newman 3-5-0 35.

RECEIVING — Symmes Valley: Levi Niece 1-11, Ethan Patterson 1-8, Levi Ross 1-5, Josh Saunders 1-minus 2; Northwest: Brayden Cambell 3-35.