Wheelersburg’s defense has turned the first two rounds of the playoffs into a shutout streak. The fifth-seeded Pirates went on the road Friday night and blanked fourth-seeded South Point 44-0 in a Division V, Region 19 quarterfinal.
The final score was confirmed on the statewide scoreboards published by The Columbus Dispatch, the Mansfield News Journal, the Zanesville Times Recorder and the Ironton Tribune. Wheelersburg improved to 9-3, while South Point’s season ended at 9-2.
A road shutout against a higher seed is a statement in any round. South Point entered the night 9-1 with home field and the No. 4 seed, and the Pointers never found the end zone against a Pirates defense that has now gone the entire postseason without allowing a point.
The streak started a week earlier, when Wheelersburg opened the playoffs with a 48-0 shutout of Grove City Christian in the first round. Two playoff games, 92 points scored, none allowed — the kind of two-way dominance that travels well in November, when weather and field position turn games into grind-it-out affairs.
For South Point, the loss ends a nine-win season that included the No. 4 seed in one of southern Ohio’s deepest small-school regions. The Pointers’ year will be remembered for getting this home game in the first place, even if Friday belonged entirely to the visitors from Scioto County.
Wheelersburg, meanwhile, is playing its best football at the exact moment the bracket demands it. The Pirates’ regular season had its bumps — three losses meant a No. 5 seed and no home game in this round — but the postseason version of this team has outscored its two opponents by an average of 46 points.
There is also a message in the seeding. The committee’s numbers said South Point was the better team over ten weeks; the Pirates’ last two Fridays say otherwise. Playoff brackets reward the team playing best in November, not the team that was best in September, and no team in Region 19 is carrying more momentum into the semifinal round than Wheelersburg.
What happens next: Wheelersburg advances to a Division V, Region 19 semifinal on Friday, Nov. 13, one win from a regional final. If the defense keeps its shutout streak alive for even one more half, the Pirates will like their chances of playing deep into November.
Photo: EmDa0507, CC BY-SA
[…] from a state semifinal. Ironton’s Friday also set up a familiar neighborly showdown, after Wheelersburg’s 44-0 shutout of South Point in the region’s other half of the […]