St. Marys running back Eli Wilson (44) watches as the ball rolls free and eventually recovered by Wirt County during Saturday’s Class A first round playoff game in St. Marys. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

ST. MARYS — One week after what their quarterback described as an embarrassing loss, the Wirt County Tigers hooked up with St. Marys for the second time in eight days and flipped the script from a 33-point defeat in a regular-season finale to a 27-14 win in the opening round of the Class A state playoffs Saturday afternoon on the campus of St. Marys High School.

The 11th-ranked Tigers (8-3) advance to the quarterfinal round and go on the road against No. 3 Clay-Battelle on a day and time to be announced.

“If I knew the difference between the two games with St. Marys, I might write a book and make a million dollars,” Wirt County coach Jason Hickman laughed. “We talked all week about how we didn’t play well in the first meeting. We made a lot of mistakes, and knew if we came here and fixed those we could do what we just did. Our kids believed and got it done.

“Considering that we lost and got blown out by that same team last week, and to see our kids fight the way they did today, that’s what you coach for.”

Wirt County quarterback Tyler Smith passed for 211 yards and three touchdowns, including two to freshman Andrew Lemley.

Led by Elijah Kimball (3), St. Marys makes a goal-line stand against Wirt County late in the first half of Saturday’s Class A first round playoff game in St. Marys. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

“We were mad after last week,” Smith said. “We got embarrassed by St. Marys. We came into this game expecting to get revenge. Most of the time, you don’t get a chance to play a team again, so it felt great to get the win.

“Practice was amazing this week. Last week’s practice was all right, but I don’t think we were ready for that game. This week, everybody was locked in. We were a family again. We came together.”

St. Marys (8-3) fell behind 19-7 but gave itself an opportunity for a possible winning score after quarterback Jeremiah DeMoss completed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Eli Cox on fourth down with 7:14 remaining in the fourth quarter.

St. Marys then attempted the onside kick. The ball ricocheted off a Wirt County frontline player and back into the hands of Blue Devils’ Dru Binegar.

Unfortunately, the turnover bug bit St. Marys for the third and final time when Wirt County’s Caiden Stilgenbauer wrestled a loose ball away from Gregory Jemison near midfield.

Several minutes later, Smith found a wide open Easton Wyer floating down the middle for a 14-yard TD completion to give the Tigers a 27-14 lead with 2:29 showing on the clock.

Stilgenbauer wasn’t done being an impact player. He recorded two quarterback sacks on St. Marys’ ensuing possession, which ended with Dylan Hutchinson picking off his second pass of the game on a Hail Mary attempt downfield at the Wirt 22 and only two ticks left in the game.

“Obviously, this hurts,” St. Marys coach Jodi Mote said. “Actually, it proves anything can happen — that the next day is a new day. Last week, we played pretty much flawless for the most part. Today, we just had too many mistakes with turnovers and that kind of stuff.

“It was a very rewarding season and you know when you don’t win it all you are going to have this feeling. When this happens, it doesn’t matter whether you are a senior, a member of the coaching staff or whoever. It stinks.”

Earlier in the game, Hutchinson recovered a Wirt kickoff which went unclaimed by the Blue Devils.

With the St. Marys offensive numbers picking up in the second half, running back Eli Wilson finished with a game-high 104 yards on 17 carries.

“From the beginning of the season, we worked hard and we were going to get this done,” Stilgenbauer said. “I think St. Marys irritated us by doing that to us last week. We should have had scores in the end zone. We should have put the ball in the end zone.”

Despite producing just 47 yards of total offense in the first half, St. Marys managed to hang their hats on a goal-line stand which prevented Wirt from tacking onto an already 7-0 lead.

Wirt’s final offensive series of the first half began at the St. Marys 25 and the Tigers eventually had a first-and-goal at the 9. Following consecutive encroachment penalties on the Blue Devils, Wirt’s ground game was called upon on four straight plays but was denied entry.

On fourth down from the 1, Wirt running back Adryon Hartford was met at the line of scrimmage and stood up by the Blue Devils’ Elijah Kimball.

“At halftime, I told the guys we hadn’t done anything yet – I was very upset we didn’t put that touchdown in on the board there at the end of the first half,” Hickman said. “So basically, it was like a we were down 20-0 speech.”

After St. Marys turned the ball over on a fumble on its opening drive of the second half, Wirt drove the ball 59 yards in just five plays. Smith capped the drive with a 24-yard TD pass to Jakob Moore. At the eight-minute mark of the third quarter, Wirt led 13-0.

St. Marys answered right back on DeMoss’ 2-yard plunge into the end zone. At 3:46 left in the period, the deficit was six at 13-7.

The steady stream of touchdown drives continued with Wirt capping off an eight-play, 80-yard drive with Lemley hauling in his second TD reception – this one on a slant from 6 yards and 41 seconds still remaining in the third quarter. The Tigers moved in front 19-7.

Lemley finished the game with five receptions for 91 yards and two TDs. Smith completed a pass of 13 yards or more to four different receivers.

“I have a ton of confidence in my receivers,” Smith said. “They know the plays, I know the plays. It’s just that bond we have with each other.”

It’s been quite the week at Wirt County High School – between the first round playoff win in football on the heels of the girls volleyball team capturing a state title.

“Absolutely , it’s been a nice week,” Hickman said.

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com