WHEELERSBURG — Wheelersburg left no doubt in the Southern Ohio Conference II race on Friday night, Oct. 16, routing visiting Waverly 42-7 in a Week 9 matchup of the league’s top two teams.
The Pirates entered the night 7-1 overall and 4-0 in the SOC II, with Waverly a game behind at 6-2 and 3-1 and able to pull even with a win. Instead, Wheelersburg scored early and kept scoring, turning the conference’s game of the week into its most lopsided result.
Quarterback Braylon Rucker threw three touchdown passes to power the Pirates’ offense. Two of them went to wide receiver Creed Warren, including a 63-yard strike that broke the game open, and Rucker also hooked up with running back Xavier Arthur for a receiving touchdown as Wheelersburg built its lead in every phase.
Arthur’s night went beyond the one catch. The Pirates’ running back piled up roughly 170 yards of total offense between his rushing and receiving work, giving Waverly’s defense a problem it never solved — stack up against the run, and Rucker threw over the top; drop back, and Arthur found room underneath.
Waverly’s only touchdown came on a pass from quarterback Carson Peters to Jase Harris. Beyond that score, the Tigers were held in check, and wide receiver Sawyer Myers added an interception on defense for Wheelersburg to snuff out another Waverly possession.
The final margin matched the stakes. Wheelersburg came in ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press Division V state poll, and a 35-point win over the second-place team in its own conference is the kind of statement that holds up in late October.
The win moves Wheelersburg to 8-1 overall and 5-0 in the SOC II, alone in first place with one week left in the regular season. Waverly falls to 6-3 and 3-2 in league play, its conference title hopes ended but its postseason position still very much alive.
Wheelersburg closes the regular season next Friday, Oct. 23 at Minford, where a win would finish a perfect run through the SOC II. Waverly wraps up its regular season the same night before both teams turn to the OHSAA playoffs.
