Turnovers help spell end of West Liberty's perfect season

West Liberty commits 5 turnovers, allowing Versailles to pull away.

West Liberty's Greg White looks upfield as he catches a pass under pressure from Versailles' Jacob Barga during Friday night's playoff game. Staff photo by Bill Lackey

Bill Lackey West Liberty's Greg White looks upfield as he catches a pass under pressure from Versailles' Jacob Barga during Friday night's playoff game. Staff photo by Bill Lackey

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By David Jablonski, Staff Writer 11:50 PM Friday, November 4, 2011

WEST LIBERTY — West Liberty-Salem’s six seniors trudged off the football field for the final time, their heads hanging low despite another amazing season.

Behind them, coach Toby Smith addressed the 2012 team for the first time, beginning the process of turning the page after a 48-21 loss Friday by the top-seeded Tigers to No. 8 seed Versailles in the first round of the Division V, Region 20 playoffs. The Tigers’ perfect season came to a sudden end, thanks mostly to five turnovers — four in the second half.

“I’m proud of them; 10-1, that’s nothing to sneeze at,” Smith said. “Obviously, you hope (Versailles) does well and it makes you feel better that they advanced, but it’s a sour taste right now, and it’s not going to get better for a couple of weeks.”

The score was tied 14-14 when the turnover bug started to bite the Tigers. With the ball near midfield and 4 minutes remaining in the first half, the Tigers fumbled. Versailles recovered and turned that into a TD with 3:25 to play.

Things got worse in the third quarter. A fumbled punt and two interceptions led to two Versailles touchdowns, and the rout was on.

“We made too many mistakes,” Smith said. “You’re not going to advance against anybody when you turn the ball over five times. We were in that football game, no doubt about it. I thought our kids played extremely hard. They made some big plays.

“But the mistakes we made were too hard to overcome against a team of that caliber. Take away the five turnovers, and you don’t know. And you have to give (Versailles) credit. That’s a good football team, and they put us in a position to make some mistakes.”

Versailles (9-2) will play No. 5 seed Coldwater (8-3) in the regional semifinals next Friday. Nick Campbell led Versailles with three touchdown passes and three touchdown runs against the Tigers. He threw for 205 yards and rushed for 161.

The highlight for the Tigers was a 97-yard kickoff return to begin the game by Micheal Mack. After Versailles responded with two straight touchdowns, the Tigers tied the game at 14-14 on a 31-yard pass from Riley Sims to Greg White.

Contact this reporter at  David.Jablonski@coxinc.com.

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