Round-Up: Warriors, Cowboys Advance

Both the Winton Woods Warriors and the Wyoming Cowboys looked primed for title runs as they captured Regional Championships on Friday night. Winton Woods knocked off Trotwood-Madison while Wyoming downed Shawnee.

WINTON WOODS 28, TROTWOOD-MADISON 7

The Winton Woods Warriors advanced to the Division II State Semifinals for the first time in school history Friday by dominating both sides of the ball and downing Trotwood-Madison 28-7 in the Region 8 Final.

The Warriors set the tone early holding the ball for over seven minutes while driving 68 yards for their first touchdown of the evening. On the drive, Winton Woods converted a key fourth-and-1 from the Trotwood 5-yard line setting up an 1-yard run to the end zone by quarterback Dominique Brown.

The UC commit carried the ball 27 times for 163 yards and two touchdowns as the Warriors rushed for 354 yards.

Brown added a 2-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-goal in the closing seconds of the first half to put Winton Woods up by two scores. It would be all the Warriors would need as the Rams struggled to get anything going on the offense.

Unlike the Warriors, Trotwood just couldn't convert when it needed to.

After forcing Winton Woods to punt early in the second quarter, the Rams had the opportunity to cut into Winton Woods' 7-0 lead. Facing a fourth-and-5 from the Warriors' 22, Trotwood attempted a 39-yard field goal that would have split the uprights but lacked the distance.

Trotwood drove deep into Warrior territory on their first drive of the second half but came up short again failing to convert a fourth-and-2 from the Warrior 15.

The Warriors put the game out of reach on two Jeremiah Goins touchdown runs in the fourth quarter. The senior running back took the ball in for a 6-yard touchdown after an interception by linebacker David Hampton at midfield. A 58-yard run by Brown set up Goins' second touchdown of the game, a 2-yard run. Goins finished the game with 30 carries for 126 yards and the two touchdowns.

Trotwood running back Antwan Gilbert, who averages over 200 yards per game, was held to 40 yards on the ground and three catches for 76 yards by the Winton Woods defense. Gilbert scored the Rams only touchdown when he took quarterback Marcus Graham's shovel pass to the end zone with 6:39 left to play. Trotwood came into the game having scored over 40 points in each of their first two postseason contests.

The Warriors will meet Columbus Marion Franklin, who defeated Columbus Brookhaven by a 31-24 score, next Friday at a site to be announced unless rebracketing occurs.

WYOMING 14, SHAWNEE 7

The Wyoming Cowboys are headed back to the state's final four for the first time in 21 years after posting a 14-7 victory over Shawnee (9-4) on Friday night. It was the defense not the high-powered offense that stole the show for victors.

The Cinderella Braves were held to just 191 yards of total offense on the night. Senior Jibreel Black and junior Tony Davis combined for combined for 2.5 sacks to lead the way for the Cowboys.

Wyoming got on the board first when quarterback Kyle Seyfried hit running back Isaiah Nearor on a seven-yard scoring pass. The extra point made it 7-0 in the first quarter.

The game would remain that way until Shawnee running back Eric Dewitt would score on a one-yard plunge to tie the score at 7-7 with just under nine minutes left in the game.

The tie would not last long as Seyfried found the most unlikely of Cowboy heroes, Spencer Herbst with a 64-yard touchdown pass on the very next play from scrimmage. Herbst, a senior, had caught just one pass in the post-season before his big score. The senior had just 10 catches on the year.

Seyfried had another outstanding performance going 18-27 for 246 yards while tossing two touchdowns. The junior has now thrown 39 touchdown passes on the season.

Wyoming will take on Columbus DeSales (10-3) next Friday night at Dayton's Welcome Stadium. Don't let DeSales' three losses fool you, they have fallen to Elder and undefeated's Anderson & Cardinal Mooney.