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PIQUA, Ohio – The unbeaten Wyoming Cowboys are following junior quarterback Evan Prater to the Ohio Division IV championship game next week.
Having another outstanding game, the all-district QB and Offensive Player of the Year threw three touchdown passes to wide receiver Joey Edmonds and ran for two scores as the Cowboys beat St. Marys Memorial 35-14 in their semifinal Saturday night.
Wyoming (14-0) will play Girard (13-1) for the state title in Canton at 8 p.m. Saturday. Girard outlasted Newark Licking Valley 53-48 in their seesaw semifinal.
Girard's high-scoring offense averages 48 points per game and has gone over 60 twice.
The Cowboys broke open a close game with two touchdowns 15 seconds apart in the last minute of the first half.
final wyo35 stmarys14 @evan_prater 149y rushing 2yds and 181y passing 3tds; @joeyedmonds5 7catches 93y 3tds. d per usual. @CHLSports @tsfootball @MikeDyer @WyomingSports @CoachHancock
— wyoming football ‘18 stats (@18Stats) November 25, 2018
After falling behind 7-0, the Cowboys tied it when Prater threw a 15-yard TD pass to Edmonds with 44 seconds left in the first quarter. St. Marys Memorial hung tough until the end of the half. Then the Cowboys broke away.
With 38 seconds left, Prater hit Edmonds for another TD. A huge run by Prater and a third-down catch and run by Camden O’Gara set up the score.
At that point, the Cowboys turned to some trickery – an onside kick. Edmonds recovered, and one play later, Prater hit Perry McMitchen for 40 yards. That set up a TD run by Prater and a 21-7 halftime lead.
Wyoming converted a fourth-down play into a touchdown in the third quarter with Prater hitting Edmonds in the back of the endzone to make it 28-7.
St. Marys Memorial turned a Wyoming fumble into a touchdown with 4:51 to play in the third quarter, but Prater sealed the win with a fourth-quarter TD run after the Cowboys got the ball on a fourth-down sack by Harrison Shepherd.
Congratulations COWBOYS you have just punched your ticket to Canton! Way to fight! Offense had over 355 total yards! Defense held them to 148 total yards of offense, 112 yards rushing and 36 passing! #OnWyoming
— Aaron Hancock (@CoachHancock) November 25, 2018
The Cowboys, who celebrated their 100th football season this year, will be going for the school's second state title in the playoff era (since 1972). They were Ohio Class AA champions in 1977.
Wyoming is the fourth Tri-State team to make the state finals in Ohio and Kentucky next week, joining Colerain (Ohio Division I), Covington Catholic (Kentucky Class 5A) and Beechwood (Kentucky Class 1A).
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