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The Canal Winchester High School football team's first playoff appearance since 1988 ended in dramatic -- and satisfying, for the Indians at least -- fashion.

Canal Winchester drove 77 yards on 16 plays, including a pair of fourth-down conversions, before Tyler Shryock kicked a 22-yard field goal with 6.6 seconds left, providing the difference in a 17-16 victory over Germantown Valley View last Friday in the first round of the Division III playoffs.

The Indians improved to 10-1 and will play Monroe Lemon-Monroe on Friday in a regional semifinal. Lemon-Monroe beat Goshen 36-13 on Friday.

Valley View finished 5-6.

"I was really nervous," Shryock, a sophomore, said. "I was just thinking, I've got to make it for the seniors. They've been through everything and all the losing. It just feels good."

The Canal Winchester offense struggled to get much going, but the Indians found some rhythm on the final drive with big plays from quarterback Travis Stevenson and running back Tony Davis. The Indians converted third-and-20, fourth-and-1 and fourth-and-3 to keep the drive alive.

On that fourth-and-3 from the Valley View 25, Stevenson faked a pass to the right, then found Davis wide open on the left sideline for a 19-yard gain. There were 21.6 seconds remaining and Canal Winchester had no timeouts, but coach Phil Mauro decided to run the ball anyway and Davis was stopped for a 1-yard gain to the 5-yard line. The Indians quickly got back to the line and spiked the ball with 6.6 seconds left to set up Shryock's field goal.

"Hey, 17-16 is pretty sweet right now," Mauro said. "It just talks a lot about the character of this team. We played an awfully good team tonight. Our yards came tough, without a doubt, and I was proud of our defense."

The Indians' defense scored the first touchdown of the game. On second-and-3 from the Canal Winchester 28, Valley View's Jon Day pitched the ball to Evan Clark on an option when Dom Cosby hit the runner and forced a fumble, which was recovered by Zack Hitchens and returned 65 yards for a touchdown.

The Spartans got on the board minutes later on a 38-yard field goal by Michael Boyd to make the score 7-3.

The Indians responded on the second play of the second quarter with a 1-yard run by Davis to make the score 14-3.

With just less than five minutes left in the second quarter, Valley View scored its first touchdown on a 5-yard pass from Day to Andy Genslinger. The Spartans went for two but the halfback option pass was batted down to make the score 14-9.

Valley View took a 16-14 lead with four minutes left in the third quarter with a 15-yard pass from Day to Lucas Donson.

Stevenson was intercepted three times and Davis was held to 49 yards on 18 carries, but the duo hooked up for 62 passing yards on the final drive.

Last Game

CANAL WINCHESTER 17,

GERMANTOWN VALLEY VIEW 16