WHEELERSBURG - The defense stepped up.

With the offense sputtering, Wheelersburg's defense made big stops against the Lucasville Valley offense and created scoring opportunities for the Pirates offense in a 27-0 shutout of the Indians Friday.

The Pirates stopped three Lucasville scoring drives in the red zone to help hand the Indians their first loss of the season.

After a scoreless first half, John Storey ran one yard for a touchdown with 4:13 left in the third quarter. Max Burk kicked the point after and it was 7-0.

Storey intercepted a pass ran ran it back 24 yards to the 3-yard line to set up a scoring run on the next play by Brandon White and it was 14-0.

Another turnover resulted in a 5-yard touchdown run by White with 4:38 left for a 20-0 lead. Chris Pyles capped the scoring with a 67-yard interception return.

White led the Pirates with 97 yards on 18 carries. Storey, who shifted to wingback from quarterback this week, added 34 yards on eight carries.

Wheelersburg is now 1-2 while Lucasville Valley falls to 2-1.

Lucasville0000=0

Wheelersburg00720=27

Third Quarter

WB - John Storey 1 run (Max Burk kick) 4:13.

Fourth Quarter

WB - Brandon White 3 run (Max Burk kick) 5:27.

WB - Brandon White 5 run (kick failed) 4:38.

WB - Chris Pyles 67 interception return (Max Burk kick) 1:37.

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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING - Wheelersburg: Brandon White 18-97, John Storey 8-34, Kailyb Burgess 5-22, Chris Pyles 2-7, Dustin Cook 7-minus 10; Lucasville: Ryan Turner 10-100, Travis Jones 12-97, David Myers 8-18, Craig Williams 1-minus 2, Chuck Gregory 4-minus 28..

PASSING - Wheelersburg: Dustin Cook 1-3-0 8. Lucasville: Chuck Gregory 6-10-2 68.

RECEIVING - Wheelersburg: Kailyb Burgess 1-8; Lucasville: Josh Gadke 1-27, Ryan Turner 2-16, David Myers 1-12, Tiny Anderson 1-8, Kyle Arnold 1-5.