Wheelersburg falls to Liberty Center, ends special season with state runner-up finish

Brock Netter, Editor

Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.

CANTON — Wheelersburg’s bid to win the program’s third state championship will have to wait at least another season. 

As usual, the Pirates battled as hard as they could on Saturday night. But Liberty Center (15-0) was the one team to beat ‘Burg in the physicality battle across the board this season.

The Tigers controlled the line of scrimmage and used a powerful rushing attack to claim the Division V state championship with a 35-3 victory over Wheelersburg at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.

“Liberty Center has been in the state title game for the last three years, and it speaks to how great of a program they have,” Wheelersburg coach Rob Woodward said. “They’re an experienced group of kids who have been through tough battles and losses, just like our guys are. Our kids fought hard, but we couldn’t get that consistency we wanted and Liberty took advantage of it. I’m proud of our kids for how hard they battled, it just didn’t go our way.”

After both teams punted on their opening drives, Liberty Center put the pressure on early. 

Set up by a 35-yard pass from Kaden Kreinbrink to Isaiah Badenhop, Thomas Mohler scored on a one-yard plunge for a 7-0 lead early.

Wheelersburg (14-1) punted, and the Tigers continued to keep their feet on the gas. 

With the ball on the Pirates’ 44-yard line, Kreinbrink connected with Jaxton Lawniczak on a pop pass for the 44-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 14-0. 

“There were some situations they put us in and we got misaligned,” Woodward said. “When you get to this level, everyone has film on you so you put little wrinkles in to see how teams react. We were able to get them in some 3rd and long situations, but couldn’t get that extra stop to get off the field.”

Although the Pirates got on the board with a 45-yard field goal from Cooper Heimbach, making it a 14-3 game, the Tigers continued to throw haymakers. 

Chewing up the next 8:35 of the first half clock, they methodically marched down the field before facing a 3rd and 14. That’s when they took to the air and Kreinbrink found Lawniczak on a 16-yard touchdown pass, making it 21-3 at halftime. 

The Pirates weren’t finding any answers on offense, either, and the Tigers continued to melt time with their run game. 

Garrison Kruse was a wrecking ball throughout the second half as he continued to deliver one punishing run after another. 

He accounted for the final two scores for the Tigers on runs of seven and three years before the clock hit all zeroes, bringing the 2025 football season to a close.

“Offensively, we didn’t get those third down conversions we needed to in order to give us a chance to put points on the board,” Woodward said. “Liberty was very patient offensively and exploded when they had their chances. We play a physical style and brought that into tonight, but it wasn’t enough in the end.”

Statistically, Kreinbrink was 8-of-12 passing for 143 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Mohler rushed the ball 14 times for 96 yards and a score, and Kruse had 22 carries for 87 yards and two touchdowns.

Wheelersburg was led by Elijah Brown, who had seven carries for 28 yards while Braylon Rucker finished 6-of-13 passing for 94 yards alongside an interception. The Pirates’ leading receiver was Landon McGraw, who had three catches for 39 yards.

The Tigers had possession for 31:23 of game clock, compared to Wheelersburg’s mark of 16:37. Liberty Center ran 59 plays, racking up 359 yards of offense, compared to the Pirates’ 33 for 143.

“These seniors and this team were all about the work. Work is what this team was built,” Woodward said. “I remember starting last season 0-3 with a rough schedule, but they continued to work and went to a regional final. They carried that momentum into the offseason this year and it got us all the way to the state championship. Losing these 15 seniors is so hard because they’re the first group I threw into the fire as freshman and I’ve seen them grow so much. They left a legacy of what hard work that these younger players hopefully learned from and see what is possible.”

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