Wirt county flipped the script on St. Marys in the playoff opener. The Blue Devils won it was 48-15 in the regular season finals the tigers had all the answers when it mattered most. St. Marys coach Jodi mote said his team did not play a clean enough game to advance in the postseason. The tigers never trailed after a 65- Yard bomb from senior quarterback Tyler smith to freshman receiver Andrew Lesley put them on top 7-0 with at the 6:28 mark of the second quarter. Smith and Lesley both came up big in the win. Smith who holds numerous school passing records completed 12 of his 18 throws for 210 yards and four touchdowns.
Lamely was on the receiving end of two of those scores and finished with five receptions for for 91 yards. St. Marys defense kept the score at 7-0 at halftime with a crucial goal line stand after its kickoff return team failed to cover the ball after a wind impacted kick. Wirt County drove to the one yard line but key stop by Noah Mote and Jeremiah DeMoss on the second down and Deion Mosley and Dru Bineger on third down helped keep the Tigers out of the end zone. The defensive front stonewalled the Tigers at the 2-yard line of fourth down.
The Blue Devils appeared ready to capture the momentum at the start of the second half. They drove across midfield but Eli Wilson fumbled while fighting for extra yardage and Wirt County recovered the thwart the march. The Tigers made the miscue hurt seven players later as Smith connected with Jakob Moore for a 24–yard score that upped the lead to 13-0 with eight minutes left in the third quarter. St. Marys answered that score just over four minutes later behind the running of Wilson DeMoss and Eli Cox. DeMoss had the biggest plays as his 24–yard run early in the march helped set up his 2-yard touchdown run. Angelus Palata knocked thought the extra point and St. Marys was very much alive trailing by only six points at 13-7. Wirt County responded on its next drive.
Facing a second and 13 situation from his own 17-yard line smith got the drive started as he connected on a 29-yard pass to Easton Wyler. With the drive kick started a personal foul penalty on the Blue Devils helped the Tigers move into scoring position. A 15-yard pass to Brodie Goodwin move the ball inside the 10-yard line and two plays later Smith fired a 6-yard scoring strike to Lemley. The two pointed conversion attempt failed but Wirt county still let 19-7 with 41 tick remaining on the third quarter clock.
The pendulum continued to swing on the ensuing drive as St. Marys leaned on its running game again during a long 65-yard scoring march. Wilson had the key runs during the dive including a 13-yard burst on a forth and two from just outside the red zone. The Blue Devils got the bal back on the ensuring kickoff as Dur Binegar recovered Elijah Kimballs on side kick.
St. Marys moved into Wirt County territory but another fumble spoiled the scoring opportunity. St. Marys had a pair of big plays a 28-yard pass from Cox to DeMoss and a 25-yard run by Wilson on its last drive. The Blue Devil got the first break of the game as Goodwin fumbled the opening kickoff return and Elijah Foster recovered for St.Marys at the Tigers 33-yard line. Caiden Stilgenbauer wrecked the ensuing drive as he burst through to sack DeMoss to force a Blue Devil punt. Cox had 39 receiving yards and 22 rushing yards while DeMoss ran for 38 yards and completed 4 of 9 passes for 39 stripes.
