Orr's three touchdowns lead Liberty Center over L-B

LIBERTY CENTER 41 LIBERTY-BENTON 7 LIBERTY-CENTER – Liberty Center Orr-chestrated a big first half on Friday, then put it on Kruse control. Matthew Orr scored twice in the first 16 minutes of the game, then added a third TD to trigger a running clock in the third quarter as the unbeaten, No. 4-ranked and top-seeded Tigers thumped Liberty-Benton 41-7 in a Division V, Region 18 quarterfinal contest. Orr punched it into the end zone from a yard out late in the first quarter and added a 9-yard TD sprint 3:39 into the second. Colton Kruse broke loose for a 32-yard scoring run to put Liberty Center up 19-0, and quarterback Zane Zeiter hit Landon Kruse, whose interception derailed Liberty-Benton's first drive of the game, in the final minute of the half to make it 27-0. Another Colton Kruse TD run in the third quarter put the Tigers up 34-0. Colton Kruse rushed for 139 yards in 13 carries and Orr had 85 yards on 16 attempts. The Liberty Center defense limited L-B to 15 yards on nine carries. L-B's Kam Garlock scored the Eagles' TD on a 1-yard dive and with 1:36 left in the game. The senior quarterback also capped his record-setting career by completing 24-of-42 passes for 235 yards. Lincoln Garlock hauled in 11 of those throws for 116 yards in establishing some single-season and career marks of his own. Liberty-Benton ended its season with an 8-4 record. Liberty Center will face Coldwater in a Region18 semifinal game, with site to be announced by the OHSAA this weekend. ELMWOOD 41 TINORA 15 BLOOMDALE – Elmwood got its second wind Friday night, and blew Tinora away in the process. Trailing 12-7 at the half, Elmwood took the lead with two scores in the third quarter, then added two more in the fourth in rolling to a 41-165 win over the Rams in a Division V, Region 18 quarterfinal matchup at Royal Stadium in Bloomdale. Elmwood's win earned the Royals, 11-1 and seeded No. 2 in Region 18, a rematch with Eastwood (12-0) in next week's regional semifinal at a neutral site to be determined by the OHSAA. Elmwood's lone setback this season was a 49-48 loss to Eastwood in a Sept. 30 Northern Buckeye Conference showdown. Eastwood advanced to next week's game by getting past Oak Harbor, 24-20 on Friday. ASH. CRESTVIEW 31 PATRICK HENRY 22 ASHLAND – Ashland Crestview opened some breathing room when Michael Mays scored on a 10-yard run with 7:16 left in Friday's Division VI, Region 22 playoff game with Patrick Henry. Hayden Kuhn then delivered the knockout punch for the Cougars. Patrick Henry was driving late in the game. But Kuhn picked off a pass near the goal line and took it back 99 yards to the put the capper on a 31-22 win over the Patriots. Patrick Henry had trouble moving the ball on the ground against Crestview's defense, managing just 37 yards on 15 attempts. PH quarterback Nash Meyer completed 25 of 34 passes for 339 yards, though, with Landon Johnson snaring 11 of those throws for 170 yards. Jeff Camp caught seven passes for 66 yards and Aiden Behrman three for 60. Meyer did rush for two TDs, and hit Behrman with a 39-yard TD pass. Patrick Henry ends its season at 7-5. Ashland Crestview (12-0) will face Columbia Station Columbia, a 36-6 winner over Hopewell-Loudon in another Region 22 quarterfinal, Friday at a site to be announced by the OHSAA. COL. GROVE 34 WEST SALEM 22 WEST SALEM – Columbus Grove made the long trek to West Salem but came away with a hard-fought 34-22 victory in a Division VI, Region 22 matchup. Columbus Grove jumped on top early and held West Salem off the rest of the way. The Bulldogs led 21-10 at the half, and 28-16 heading into the fourth quarter. Columbus Grove (10-2) will face Colonel Crawford (10-2), which upended No. 1-seeded Carey, in a Region 22 semifinal game at a site to be announced by the OHSAA.