The West Holmes defense rose to the challenge of the coaching staff at halftime of their opening round playoff game against fourth-seeded Unioto Friday in Chillicothe.
Coach Keaton Leppla challenged his players to be more aggressive and to get physical with the Shermans who had their way against the Knights in the first half, scoring each time they had the ball as the teams were even at 21-apiece at intermission.
“Denensively, we got our physicality matched,” Leppla said. “We had to be more physical and establish the line of scrimmage and be way more aggressive. We took their best punch, and it was time for us to deliver our punch.”
West Holmes pitched a shutout against Unioto in the second half, fending off a pair of drives by the Shermans in the red zone in the final minutes of the game, intercepting a pass in the end zone, only to turn it back over on the return.
That set up Unioto with a first down at the West Holmes 14 with 2:06 to play in the game, but the defense of the Knights stiffened again.
A sack by sophopmore Zachary Hustack and a pass break up by Chance Jackson secured the win for West Holmes.
It was an interception and 49-yard return by Brock Gallion to the Unioto one-yard line that set up the ultimate game-winning touchdown early in the third quarter. Brody Bowman took in it for the score from a yard out.
Unioto quarterback Isaac Coy had completed all nine of his first-half passes for 124 yards before misfiring on his first two passes of the second half. He finished the game 15-of-25 for 142 yards and two interceptions.
West Holmes quarterback Morgan Smith completed 8-of-15 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown. That scoring pass came on a 58-yard screen pass to Gallion that gave the Knights a 14-7 lead at the time.
West Holmes scored first on a seven-yard touchdown run by Smith on the first series of the game. Alex Pringle tacked on the conversion kick, on to see the Sherman Tanks score two plays later on a 39-yard jaunt by Cody Braden, who ran for 154 yards on 24 carries to lead the 9-2 Tanks. He also scored on runs of one and six yards.
Lynn Cline scored the third touchdown of the first half for the Knights on a nine-yard burst up the middle. West Holmes rushed for 144 yards on 24 carries to go with 115 yards through the air. Bowman led th way witeh 73 yards on seven carries.
“We did some really good things on offense,” Leppla said. “I really like where we’re at offensively.”
About the East Liverpool Potters
The Knights will need to bring their A game to Patterson Field in East Liverpool Friday when they face the 12th-seeded Potters, who pulled off a 41-40 victory over No. 5 seed Columbus East in the opening round of the playoffs.
Quarterback Gavin Wright accounted for five touchdowns in the Potters (7-4) thrilling opening round victory.
Wright threw for 264 yards and three touchdowns on 18-of-28 passing. The versatile quarterback also rand for two scores, leading the ground game with 109 yards on 23 carries against Columbus East. Jaymin Haney also rushed for 79 yards on 17 carries.
Wright connected with a variety of receivers. Blake Adkins led the way with eight catches for 119 yards. D’Shawn Kirby caught three for 64 yards and a score and Quinton Conrad snared four passes for 46 yards and a score.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Knights upset Unioto to face E. Liverpool in second round of playoffs
