{"id":211303,"date":"2026-10-16T23:43:03","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T04:43:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=211303"},"modified":"2026-10-16T23:43:05","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T04:43:05","slug":"shawnee-outscores-van-wert-33-27","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/10\/16\/shawnee-outscores-van-wert-33-27\/","title":{"rendered":"Shawnee outscores Van Wert 33-27"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent sports<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert\u2019s hopes of a home playoff game in Week No. 11 evaporated Friday night, as Shawnee posted a wild 33-27 win over the Cougars in the home finale for the Cougars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was the fourth straight loss for Van Wert (4-5, 3-5 WBL), while Shawnee improved to 4-5 (3-5 WBL).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s basic football \u2013 blocking and tackling and Shawnee won both of those battles tonight and I\u2019m not sure it was even close,\u201d Van Wert head coach Keith Recker said. \u201cI think the difference in the game was we were consistently in second and long and third and long situations and they were not and that really hurt us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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Van Wert’s Cohen Bragg (24) zooms toward the goal line during Friday’s game against Shawnee. Bob Barnes\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Cougars trailed 19-6 in the third quarter after Shawnee\u2019s Isacc Meeks scored on a 13-yard touchdown run. However, Van Wert came storming back and scored on a 4-yard touchdown run by Xavier Kelly, followed by the extra point by Alex Benner. The drive was highlighted by a 12-yard run by Zach Crummey and a 33-yard toss from Crummey to Kelly. The Cougars then took the lead on Shawnee\u2019s next drive, when Keaten Welch intercepted quarterback Brogan Rayer and returned it 33 yards for a touchdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\u2019s having a phenomenal year both offensively and defensively,\u201d Recker said of Welch. \u201cHe brings a ton of athleticism and he\u2019s shown how tough he is this year by running after the catch and fighting through some injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It appeared as though Van Wert had seized control of the game. Thanks to a sack by Crummey, Shawnee\u2019s next drive ended with a punt. Quarterback Brogan Rayer was injured on the sack and had to be helped from the field. He finished 14-of-25 for 205 yards, one touchdown and one interception. The Cougars then put together a 13-play drive that ended with 4-yard touchdown run by Crummey, a score that put Van Wert ahead 27-19 with 9:45 left in the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shawnee wasn\u2019t done. Jarin Bagley, the WBL\u2019s leader in receiving yards, shifted to quarterback and on the first snap raced 66 yards for a touchdown, then went in untouched for the game-tying two-point conversion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Van Wert\u2019s next possession was a three and out and after a Benner punt, Shawnee started a drive at their own 20 yard line. Bagley and the Indians took nearly six minutes off the clock and scored on a fourth down play. On fourth and two, Bagley took the snap, started to his left and was quickly hemmed in but reversed course then sailed down the visiting sideline for a 39-yard touchdown. Luke McGuire\u2019s PAT was no good, leaving the score at 33-27. Bagley finished with three carries for 115 yards and two touchdowns, all in the fourth quarter. He also caught six passes for 130 yards and a touchdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a really good player, that\u2019s why he leads the league in receiving and he\u2019s tough to bring down,\u201d Recker said. \u201cWe had our chances at him and he made plays and we didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a short kickoff, the Cougars started a drive at their own 40 and somehat methodically drove to the Shawnee 17 yard line. However, Crummey was sacked for a 9-yard loss. Two plays later, on fourth and six, the junior quarterback rolled to his right and appeared to have enough running room to easily pick up the first down, but he opted to throw. The pass was incomplete and Shawnee was able to run out the clock. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crummey finished 23-of-41 for 274 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Welch caught nine passes for 118 yards and Kelly had nine receptions for 101 yards. Kelly rushed for 64 yards on 16 carries while Crummey had 10 carries for 60 yards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert\u2019s opening possession of the game resulted in a 6-0 lead when Crummey found Cohen Bragg over the middle for a 24-yard touchdown pass. The Cougars forced Shawnee to punt after just three plays and were driving again, when Crummey was intercepted. After that, Van Wert struggled to generate any offense until midway through the third quarter. Meanwhile, Shawnee scored twice in the second quarter on a 2-yard run by  Meeks and a 52-yard pass from Rayer to Bagley. The Indians increased the lead to 19-6 in the third quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cougars will finish the regular season at Kenton on Friday and a win may now be necessary to qualify for the playoffs.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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Keaten Welch scored on a third quarter interception return. Bob Barnes photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cWith where we\u2019re at right now we need to have a great week of practice and obviously we can\u2019t take anything for granted at this point,\u201d Recker said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scoring summary<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert   6   0  14   7 \u2013 27<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shawnee   0 13    6 14 \u2013 33<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First quarter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

VW \u2013 Zach Crummey 24-yard pass to Cohen Bragg (run failed)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second quarter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

S \u2013 Isacc Meeks 2-yard run (Luke McGuire kick)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

S \u2013 Brogan Rayer 52-yard pass to Jarin Bagley (kick no good)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third quarter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

S \u2013 Isacc Meeks 13-yard run (pass failed)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VW \u2013 Xavier Kelly 4-yard run (Alex Benner kick)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VW \u2013 Keaten Welch 33-yard interception return (Alex Benner kick)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fourth quarter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

VW \u2013 Zach Crummey 4-yard run (Alex Benner kick)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

S \u2013 Jarin Bagley 66-yard run (Jarin Bagley run)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

S \u2013 Jarin Bagley 39-yard run (kick failed)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports Van Wert\u2019s hopes of a home playoff game in Week No. 11 evaporated Friday night, as Shawnee posted a wild 33-27 win over the Cougars in the home finale for the Cougars. It was the fourth straight loss for Van Wert (4-5, 3-5 WBL), while Shawnee improved to 4-5 (3-5 WBL). \u201cIt\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-211303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-25 17:27:14","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211303"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211303\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":211310,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211303\/revisions\/211310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}