Derrick Webb, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
WEST PORTSMOUTH — Years from now, West senior Ryan Sissel and his teammates will be talking about what happened on Friday night.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
They may not realize it just yet, but that’s a fact.
Coming into Week 10’s matchup with Wheelersburg, the Senators hadn’t beaten the Pirates since 2011 and they hadn’t won a Southern Ohio Conference championship since 2008.
But on the backs of a bull-headed Sissel, a stout offensive line and a smothersome defense, West (9-1, 5-0 SOC II) snapped both of those streaks with a hard-fought 14-7 victory — one that sets a precedent for future generations to come.
“The entire community was here tonight and we’ve had support all week long,” West coach Todd Gilliland said. “The young kids wanting autographs tonight … They’re out their saying, ‘I want to be Ryan Sissel. I want to be Jeffery Bishop.’ These high school kids don’t understand what that means. But in ten years, those kids are going to be the ones on the field. The guys that played tonight are setting the foundation for the future of our program. This is one of those types of wins.”
In the past three years, Wheelersburg has beaten West four times — three regular season meetings and a playoff contest — and in those four games, have outscored the Senators by a 149-34 margin.
But something felt different about the rivalry’s latest installment from the get-go.
While the Pirates scored the game’s first touchdown to take an early lead, West continued to hang around. And as that happened, confidence started to ooze onto the Senators’ sideline.
From there, behind a gritty offensive line, Sissel ran like a bull in a China shop. The Pirates couldn’t find an answer and the Senators rode their prize horse to the finish line.
“He’s a gamer,” Gilliland said of Sissel. “You put him together with an offensive line that just works their butts off, you’ll have success running the ball. We had a sophomore center, a sophomore at right tackle, and they’re just fighters up front. They don’t get, a lot of times, the credit they deserve. Tonight, they showed how well they can play.”
PHOTOS: Images from West’s win over Wheelersburg
Wheelersburg (7-3, 4-1 SOC II) graced the scoring column with 4:59 left in the first quarter when Ethan Glover plunged into the end zone with a one-yard score. Glover’s touchdown ended a methodical 11-play, 60-yard drive to give the Pirates a 7-0 lead.
From there, the two continued to trade possessions until West caught lightning in a bottle near the end of the first half.
As time expired, Mitchell Irwin heaved a pass into the end zone from Wheelersburg’s 38-yard line. Jeffery Bishop, alongside two defenders, was waiting on the other end of that throw and Bishop won a jousting battle with an acrobatic catch to get his Senators on the board.
After a missed PAT, Wheelersburg took a 7-6 lead into the break. But momentum had found the Senators’ locker room.
“We continued to execute the game plan. We knew it was going to be a battle,” Gilliland said. “My assistant coaches did such a good job and they worked and communicated with our kids. I can’t say enough about them. It all came together.”
The first half belonged to Bishop’s catch, and just for that brief, ever-important moment. But the entirety of the next two quarters belonged to Sissel.
The Senators’ power back grabbed his lunch pail and went to work, engineering a 13-play, 78-yard drive that ended with a 10-yard touchdown run.
The score came with just 26 seconds left in the third quarter and gave West its first lead of the evening at 14-7 — following a successful two-point try.
“It’s just amazing for these guys. The work they’ve put in from the moment they stepped into this program … A lot of these seniors took a lot of lumps as freshmen. They were forced to play early on. But they’ve just stayed the course and it all culminated tonight,” Gilliland said. “We knew all year that we had to keep getting better each week. They did that.”
Wheelersburg had the ball twice within the last five minutes but the Senators’ defense held strong. The Pirates were forced to punt before burning the remainder of their timeouts.
Then, with under a minute left, they completed three quick passes to reach midfield. But with less than 10 seconds remaining, the Senators chased down quarterback Elie Jones to end the threat and seal the deal.
Sissel ran 25 times for 169 yards and a touchdown, averaging 6.8 yards per attempt. He also led the team’s defense with 11 tackles. Irwin added 39 rushing yards and was 3-of-9 passing for 42 yards and a score. Bishop was the team’s leading receiver with the 38-yard touchdown grab.
Ethan Glover paced Wheelersburg’s ground game, rushing for 54 yards and a score while Derrick Lattimore added 10 carries for 43 yards. Jones was 6-of-13 through the air for 45 yards and Eric Lattimore was active in the passing game, totaling four catches for 30 yards.
Both teams will continue their seasons into Week 11. While it’s not official, joeeitel.com has West as the No. 5 seed in Division V, Region 19 while the Pirates hold down the No. 6 spot.
If the seeds hold true, Wheelersburg will host Heath next Friday while the Senators entertain Northwest.
“We’ve talked all year about it being about execution, doing your job and playing together as a team. If we do those three things, we feel like we can play with anybody,” Gilliland said. “Credit to Wheelersburg. That’s a great team. But you know what, we’re a pretty good team, too. There are things we can clean up but the effort and execution in the run game, those were the big things.”
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