By Mark Carpenter
It was best two out of three with a championship on the line at West Union’s Freedom Field on Halloween night as the Peebles Indians and the West Union Dragons met for the third time this season on the gridiron. The two teams had split their previous two meetings, so the rubber match on Saturday would be for bragging rights, plus possession of the Darby-Koehler Trophy as the 2020 Southern Ohio Independent League Super Bowl Champions.
For the Indians, their path to Saturday’s title game has been a Cinderella story. Peebles began a varsity football program in 2017 and for their first two years went winless and honestly weren’t very competitive. All that changed in 2019 when midway through the season, Mike McDonald became the head coach and the Indians started playing with confidence and putting up a few “W’s”. This season, they put up quite a few “W’s”, rolling through their SOIL competition straight into Saturday night’s title game, where they faced West Union, a team that has more SOIL titles than any other squad.
With all that said and with the two teams developing quite a rivalry after their two earlier meeting, Saturday night’s title game did not disappoint. A hard-fought defensive battle between two determined squads saw a scoreless first half but two Peebles scoring runs in the second half proved to be the difference as the upstart Indians did the improbable, became a championship team by downing the Dragons buy a final score of 14-12.
“Our coaches talked to our boys in the beginning about improving on last season, accepting weekly challenges, and understanding what a football family is and means,” said Peebles head coach Mike McDonald. “They accepted every challenge thrown at them and learned to play as a family, everyone with the same goal and no family member stood above the rest.”
“Tonight’s game was a defensive struggle. Most people know about our offense but our defense has been lights out this year, only giving up 9.8 points a game. This was one of the challenges our boys accepted, improving our defense from last season.”
The tone of the title game was set early, hard-hitting and earning every yard out on the field. The first three possessions of the game all ended in turnovers on downs and the ensuing West Union possession ended in an interception by Peebles’ Zane Knechtly, the first of three picks he would have on the night. Just before halftime, Knechtly struck again, intercepting a pass by WU quarterback Brian Hunt to send the two teams to halftime locked in 0-0 deadlock.
That deadlock didn’t last long, just one play into the second half. West Union’s Daniel Fernandez flagged down the opening kickoff of the third period and took it 80 yards to the house to give the Dragons a 6-0 advantage and the temporary momentum. Only temporary,though, as that kick return seemed to wake up the Peebles offense, Taking over at the West Union 44, the Tribe took six plays, aided by an unsportsmanlike conduct flag on the Dragons, and tied the game on an 11-yard touchdown run by Jayce West.
On the next West Union possession, the Dragons were stopped and forced into a punting situation, but Coach Scott McFarland decided to pull a little trickery out of his playbook but a pass by punter Jordan Gibson fell incomplete, giving Peebles the ball in great field position at the West Union 39.
The Indians took advantage, traversing that 39 yards in six running plays, the final snap being a one-yard touchdown run by Knechtly. Knechtly also took across the two-point try giving his team a 14-6 advantage with 2:31 left in the third quarter.
With 7:06 left in the final quarter, the Dragons drew closer. getting a one-yard touchdown run from Chris Steed to make it 14-12. West Union could have tied the game with the two-point conversion but Steed was stopped by the Peebles defense, preserving the lead for the Indians.
The Dragons would be given another golden opportunity to win the game. On the next Peebles possession, the Dragons’ Phillip Jarvis picked off a Knechtly pass and returned it all the way to the Indians 34 with just 2:54 to play and it looked like the Dragons might pull off a miracle finish, but that was not to be.
West Union drove to the Peebles 15, but on a pass attempt, the ball slipped form quarterback Hunt’s hands and he fell on it for a huge 15-yard loss. On the very next play, a pass by Hunt was picked off by Knechtly, giving him the interception hat trick, and the Indians the ball with 28 seconds left. Two kneel downs later the improbable became the probable as the final horn sounded, setting off a wild celebration on the Peebles sideline, celebrating a well-earned championship game victory.
“Congratulations to Peebles on their win,” said Coach McFarland. “Our county should be falling in love with high school football if they have watched any of the three exciting games between these two teams this season. I’m proud of our team for their effort, they played hard for four quarters and were just one play away from winning the SOIL championship. Our kids had to battle through a lot of adversity this year and I’m just glad we got to have a full season.”
“We will miss our Dragon seniors and wish them all the best in their futures. We appreciate all of the community support, sponsors, and volunteers who make football possible for the kids of Adams County.”
“Our seniors have been the leaders of this team and deserve this championship,” added Coach McDonald. “They proved to the younger players that you can persevere and fight as a family for a common goal.”
Scoring Summary
Peebles
0 0 14 0 —14
West Union
0 0 6 6 —12
Third Quarter
WU- Fernandez 80-yd, kickoff return (conversion failed)
Peebles- West 11-yd. run (conversion failed)
Peebles- Knechtly 1-yd. run (Knechtly run)
Fourth Quarter
WU- C. Steed 1-yd. run (conversion failed)