Marion Local rides defense into state semifinals

PIQUA - Marion Local's offense was bogging down in the slop of an all-day rain.

No problem.

The Flyers simply handed the game off to their defense.

Marion Local's defense produced seven sacks in a 21-14 victory over West Jefferson in the Division V regional championship game Saturday at Alexander Stadium.

Marion Local's Zeb Homan had three sacks for the Flyers, while 150-pound defensive end Greg Schwieterman had a sack and a key interception.

Schwieterman's fourth-down sack of West Jefferson quarterback D.J. Mendenhall at the Roughriders' 10 with 52 seconds left clinched the victory.

"We used our quickness and our stunts from the outside and were trying to keep the quarterback in the pocket," Schwieterman said. "It felt great (on the final sack). My adrenaline was just so high. That's what we needed to end the game and seal the deal. It was unbelievable."

The Flyers (11-2) advance to the state semifinals to meet the Liberty-Benton/Patrick Henry winner at 7 p.m. Saturday at a site to be named. West Jefferson ends its season 10-3.

"We would rather rush than cover, but we have some senior DB's we think are pretty good. That allows us to do that," Marion Local coach Tim Goodwin said. "I think a couple of guys played really well for us up front."

Marion Local had four sacks on the Roughriders' final three possessions, including two in the last four downs.

"I think it was the pressure. They load the box up and they bring people," West Jefferson coach Shawn Buescher said. "They have faith in their secondary to play a lot of man-to-man and they try to create mismatches in the box up front."

Marion Local led 14-7 at the half and stretched its lead to 21-7 on a 15-yard pass from Troy Prenger to Jason Wolters.

But West Jefferson got within 21-14 after Jake Williams scooped up a Wolters fumble at the West Jefferson 45 and returned it to the Marion Local 28.

Three plays later, Mendenhall hit Eric Fisher on a 12-yard TD pass to make it 21-14 Flyers with 2:50 left in the third quarter.

Marion Local's defense came up with three straight stops in the final quarter, which was keyed by the pressure on Mendenhall.

Marion Local's Ben Smith finished with 42 yards on 18 carries. Prenger completed 4-of-11 for 42 yards with two TDs.

"The game didn't go like I thought, but it ended up like I thought," Goodwin said. "I'm disappointed in our offense. We had so many chances and we couldn't do it, but credit West Jefferson's defense."

West Jefferson's Shane Cahill ran for 46 yards on 12 carries. Mendenhall completed 9-of-17 for 122 yards and two TDs.

The Flyers scored the first time they touched the ball by going 75 yards in eight plays. The Flyers went to the back of the playbook on the fifth play from scrimmage. Wide receiver Marcus Moeller took a handoff on the reverse and fired a wide receiver pass to Jason Wolters for 47 yards to the West Jefferson 14.

Three plays later, Prenger hit Luke Bertke in the left corner of the end zone for an 11-yard TD to give Marion Local a 7-0 lead.

"We wanted to get ahead of them and Jason Wolters made a great play," Goodwin said.

West Jefferson came right back and scored on its first possession. Mendenhall hit tight end Eric Love for a 24-yard TD to cap a nine-play, 66-yard drive. That tied the game at 7 with 4:15 left in the first quarter.

The Flyers took the lead thanks to an interception. The Flyers' Schwieterman picked off a wide receiver screen pass at the Roughriders' 28 and returned to the 5.

"We were practicing that all week and I was waiting for it and it finally happened," Schwieterman said. "I put my arm up, I hit the ball and I started running. I watched that in films and I said, ‘Here comes the bubble screen.' I was ready for it."

Bertke plowed over from the 1 to give Marion Local a 14-7 lead with 10:32 left before halftime.

Marion Local returns to the state semifinals for the third straight year. The Flyers won the Division VI title in 2006 and the Division V crown last year.

"This is something I thought we could do, but we lost a lot of players off last year's team," Goodwin said. "Something like this year really makes a coach proud."