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HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
West Liberty-Salem grinds past Central to stay perfect
Saturday, October 04, 2008
SPRINGFIELD — To win in poker, you play with the cards you are dealt.
Apparently, high school football is no different. At least not for West Liberty-Salem High School.
For years, the Tigers enjoyed great success with the spread offense, daring opponents' defenses to stop them from passing. But this year, all that has changed.
The results? WLS is 7-0, with a sweet-tasting 13-0 victory over rival Catholic Central at Hallinean Field on Friday, Oct. 3, for the first time in four seasons.
Hmmm! Great defense and a grinding run attack still wins football games in the 21st century.
"We're going to do what our kids do best," said Tigers coach Toby Smith, whose team remains tied atop the Ohio Heritage Conference with unbeaten Mechanicsburg — with a Week 10 collision with the Indians on the horizon.
"We are going to take the talent we have and put them in the best position we can for them to be successful and reach their goals. So far, we have been able to do that."
What the 2008 version of the Tigers does best is play stifling run defense and ball-control offense.
WLS owned the line of scrimmage all night long, allowing Central a total of 2 yards on 9 carries.
Offensively, led by bruising junior running back Zach Culley, who had 142 yards on 27 carries, the Tigers racked up 205 rushing yards and two second-half touchdowns from quarterback Brice Baumgardner.
The teams played to a 0-0 draw in the first half, both teams committing a costly turnover and both missing field-goal attempts.
But in the second half, the WLS Express kept rolling, eventually wearing down the Irish defense.
A Baumgardner interception set up a 79-yard drive with Baumgardner scoring with 3:19 left in the third.
Another WLS interception set up the other scoring drive, with Baumgardner scoring with 11:22 left.
"I was happy with 0-0 at the half, but I just wanted to respond to them better in the second half," said Central coach Steve DeWitt, whose team is 4-3, 2-2 in the OHC. "We knew that was coming. We were just awful porous at times."
