WILLOW WOOD - Rowdy Yates and the cast of Rawhide would have been proud.

East running back Arthur Henderson has been running wild all season. But the Symmes Valley Vikings defense tamed

the Tartans senior en route to a 23-17 Southern Ohio Conference win Friday.

Henderson was held to just 14 yards rushing on 10 carries as the Vikings limited East to just 68 yards rushing.

&#8220We weren't going to let Henderson and (quarterback Brent) Downing beat us,” Vikings coach Rusty Webb said.

&#8220Our defense has been getting better, especially over the last three games. They did an outstanding job, especially against the run. We're still giving up the big play, but we aren't giving up as many.”

Symmes Valley finished second in the SOC at 4-1 and improved to 6-3 on the season. The Vikings play at Guyan Valley, W.Va., next Friday needing a win to clinch a playoff sport.

&#8220If we win, we're in,” Webb said.

East fell to 4-5 overall and finishes 3-2 in the league.

The Vikings' running game rolled up 261 yards as Matt Owens ran 21 times for 125 yards and Derek Carpenter had 103 yards on 18 attempts.

East went ahead 8-0 on a 2-yard scoring run by Downing and Henderson's conversion run.

The Vikings came back with 1:45 left in the half on a 13-yard run by Carpenter and Owen's two-point conversion to tie the game.

But an interception by East at the 49-yard line led to a go-ahead touchdown.

Downing threw 15 yards to J.R. Little that got the ball to the 1-yard line and Downing scored with one second left and it was 14-8.

Symmes Valley took a 15-14 lead on a nine-play, 62-yard drive capped by Seth Saunders' 16-yard TD run with 1:28 left in the third quarter. Kyle Meadows kicked the conversion.

&#8220Ryan Turvey did a good job to get the snap down on the tee for a heck of a play,” Webb said.

The Tartans took their final lead at 17-16 on a 32-yard field goal by Henderson with 9:17 to play.

After the ensuing kickoff, the Vikings went 70 yards in 10 plays to score the winning touchdown on a 16-yard run by Seth Saunders.

The key play in the drive was a 4-yard halfback pass from Carpenter to Capper on a fourth down-and-4 play.

&#8220We made big plays whenever we had to. That's a tribune to our football team,” Webb said. The seniors wanted to win their last league game.”

East had one final chance, but Saunders and Meadows made the stop of Downing 2 yards shy of midfield on a fourth-and-12 play.

East01403=17

Symmes Valley0878=23

First Quarter

PE – Brent Downing 2 run (Arthur Henderson run) 5:17

Second Quarter

SV – Derek Carpenter 13 run (Matt Owens run) 1:45

PE – Brent Downing 1 run (pass failed) 0:01

Third Quarter

SV – Seth Saunders 16 run (Kyle Meadows kick) 1:28

Fourth Quarter

PE – Arthur Henderson 32 field goal 9:17

SV – Derek Carpenter 4 run (Carpenter run) 3:36 10-70 on ensuing kickoff

4th and 4 Carpenter hit Chris Capper out of backfield on a halfback pass.

&#8220We made big plays whenever we had to. That's a tribute to our football team. The seniors wanted to win their last league game,” Webb said.

4th and 12, Saunders and Meadows stopped Downing 2 yards shy of the first down at midfield.

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PESV

First downs1222

Rushes-yards30-6853-261

Passing yards10818

Total yards176379

Cmp-Att-Int.5-10-13-8-1

Fumbles-lost1-01-0

Penalties-yards5-312-24

Punts-average3-30.72-27.0

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING – East: Brent Downing 18-50, Arthur Henderson 10-14, Dustin Bradford 2-4. Symmes Valley: Matt Owens 21-125, Derek Carpenter 18-103, Seth Saunders 7-23, Chris Capper 7-10.

PASSING – East; Brent Downing 5-9-1 108, Josh Bailey 0-1-0. Symmes Valley; Chris Capper 2-7-1 28, Derek Carpenter 1-1-0 18.

RECEIVING – East: J.R. Little 2-21, Arthur Henderson 1-37, Josh Bailey 1-28, Josh Dempsey 1-22; Symmes Valley: Kyle Meadows 1-11, Seth Saunders 1-17, Chris Capper 1-18.