By RYAN WALKER

For The Ironton Tribune

WILLOW WOOD — The late Jerry Reed once sang “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot” and at first, it appeared Symmes Valley was hot.

But Reed’s song also said, “When you’re not, you’re not.”

After building up a 14-point lead, the Vikings couldn’t keep the momentum and their lead slipped away, and the South Gallia Rebels rallied to a 34-20 comeback win in the Southern Ohio Conference finale on Friday night.

The Vikings came into Friday’s game clinging to the possibility of clinching a playoff berth with a win. And early on, things looked as if they’d be playing another week.

South Gallia opened the game with a short kickoff that bounced off the chest of a second line player on the Symmes Valley return team. But the Vikings forced a three-and-out to gain possession and put the first points on the board.

A key play during the opening drive came via a fake punt near midfield. Quarterback Bronx Carpenter took the snap from the punters’ position and rolled to his left, hitting Asher Maynard on a square out at the sticks for the first down.

On the next play Carpenter went to the air again, this time to Branson Edwards — who made a leaping grab — and scampered the rest of the way for a 53 yard score. Maynard hit Edwards on the two-point conversion pass to give the Vikings an 8-0 lead.

Carpenter finished the night with 259 yards through the air and three touchdown passes. Edwards led all receivers with 85 receiving yards and Maynard was the top target with 6 catches.

South Gallia responded with a score of their own on their ensuing drive, needing just 5 plays to find pay dirt. The final play of the drive saw Judah Cremeans take a toss to his right, spin off a tackle at the line of scrimmage, and cut back against the grain en route to a 33-yard touchdown run. Blake Smith added the extra point to make the score 8-7 in favor of the Vikings.

The Rebels would force a punt on Symmes Valley’s ensuing possession. However, Carpenter would get off a booming punt and it would take a short-hop and hit Cremeans, allowing Seth Jones to pounce on the muffed punt and give the Vikings the ball at the South Gallia 11.

The Vikings would cash in on the turnover two plays later, as Carpenter hit Maynard on a quick screen and the freshman pushed his way into the end zone for the 4-yard score and extended Symmes Valley’s lead to 14-7 with 3:22 remaining in the opening quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, Caleb Mount would pop the ball free from the returner and the Vikings recovered the ball around midfield.

The Vikings again converted the turnover into points. During the drive, Carpenter hit Maynard on a short crossing pattern for an 18-yard gain. Then the freshman quarterback hit Will Jones on another crossing route for a 13-yard touchdown pass to extend the Vikings lead to 20-7 after a quarter of play.

In the second, Symmes Valley looked poised to add to its lead after taking possession in South Gallia territory following a punt and penalty. But Tanner Sanders came from his corner position and delivered a hit that jarred the ball loose and the Rebels recovered the ball.

The Vikings missed out on another chance to add to their lead on their following possession. After driving down to the Rebels 8, Logan Saber was able to hit Jones at the 1-yard line, causing the ball to pop into the air and roll out of the end zone for a touchback.

South Gallia managed to get the ball back with 50 seconds remaining in the half and decided to air it out. Quarterback Hunter Wright hit Layne Wright on a wheel pattern down the sideline for a 19-yard gain on fourth down to keep the drive alive. Then two plays later, Wright tossed up a fade to Cremeans who made a leaping grab for the score. The extra point was blocked and the team went into halftime deadlocked at 20-all.

The Rebels took their first lead of the game on the opening possession of the second half. Layne Wright carried the ball 4 times during the Rebels’ 6-play drive and finished it off from 10 yards out. Smith’s extra point made the score 27-20 in favor of South Gallia.

Things continued to unravel for the Vikings on their next offensive snap. Logan Saber made a diving interception in front of the Vikings bench to give the Rebels the ball at the Symmes Valley 31.

Two plays later, Tanner Sanders took a handoff and bounced off a tackler behind the line of scrimmage. He bounced off another in the hole, kept his balance and broke loose for a 30-yard score. Smith came on and added the extra point to make it 34-20 with 7:50 remaining in the third frame.

Symmes Valley finishes the season 3-6 overall and 2-3 in SOC play. The Rebels improved their record to 6-3 overall and 3-1 in the league. The Rebels will host the Frontier Cougars next Friday in the opening round of the Division VII playoffs.

South Gallia 7 13 14 0 = 34

Symmes Valley 20 0 0 0 = 20

First Quarter

SV — Branson Edwards 53 pass from Bronx Carpenter (Maynard to Edwards), 8:35.

SG — Judah Cremeans 33 run (Blake Smith kick), 6:27.

SV — Asher Maynard 4 pass from Bronx Carpenter (pass failed), 3.22.

SV — Will Jones 13 pass from Bronx Carpenter (pass failed), 1:17.

Second Quarter

SG — Judah Cremeans 6 run (Blake Smith kick), 6:53.

SG — Judah Cremeans 13 pass from Hunter Wright (kick blocked), 0:08.

Third Quarter

SG — Layne Wright 10 run (Blake Smith kick), 8:53.

SG — Tanner Sanders 30 run (Blake Smith kick), 7:50.

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SG SV

First downs 18 13

Rushes-yards 39-246 10-16

Passing yards 103 259

Total yards 349 275

Cmp-Att-Int 7-14-0 22-41-4

Fumbles-lost 3-2 2-2

Penalties-yards 5-35 9-88

Punts-average 4-36.5 3-40.33

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING–South Gallia: Judah Cremeans 6-28 2TD, Hunter Wright 3-36, Layne Wright 16-91 TD, Tanner Sanders 13-91 TD; Symmes Valley: Bronx Carpenter 3-minus 10, Asher Maynard 1-5, Will Jones 6-21.

PASSING–South Gallia: Hunter Wright 7-14-0 103 TD; Symmes Valley: Bronx Carpenter 22-41-4 3TD.

RECEIVING–South Gallia: Logan Saber 1-15, Judah Cremeans 4-49 TD, Layne Wright 1-19, Tanner Sanders 1-20; Symmes Valley: Branson Edwards 2-85 TD, Logan Simpkins 1-15, Asher Maynard 6-27 TD, Will Jones 4-39 TD.

MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.