LANCASTER - The Symmes Valley Vikings got an A-plus for effort. It was those two "Fs" that made a big difference.

The "Fs" had nothing to do with a grade or performance. They represented field position and footing, two things that hampered the Vikings in a 25-12 loss to the Danville Blue Devils in the Division VI Region 23 championship Friday night.

A soft turf and rainy weather took away the Vikings speed advantage, and poor field position in the first half helped Danville build a 13-6 lead at the break.

Symmes Valley's strong running game was limited to just 53 yards.

"We were playing on a long field all night," Vikings coach Rusty Webb said. "It just wasn't our night.

"We needed to drive the ball out and we've been able to do that all year. Tonight we couldn't do it. But give Danville credit. They had a lot to do with it."

The Vikings best starting position the entire first half was its own 35-yard line. It wasn't much better the second half with the 38 as their best starting spot.

It was just the opposite for the Blue Devils. A 13-yard punt gave them the ball at the Vikings 32 with four minutes left in the first quarter.

A 16-yard pass from Randy Clouse to fullback Kasey Doup on a fourth-and-5 play got the ball to the 11-yard line. Two plays later Steve Payne scored and Mason Pew kicked the point after for a 7-0 lead.

After the touchdown, Vikings quarterback Craig Neal was sacked for a 12-yard loss back to the 10-yard line. The punt went 38 yards but Nathan Morton returned the kick 10 yards to the Symmes Valley 38.

Danville got a first down but was then facing a third-and-11 play. Clouse connected with Nathan Bartok streaking wide open down the middle of the field for a 27-yard scoring pass and it was 13-0 with 8:45 left in the half.

"They just made a good call," Webb said. "We had a blitz on trying to make something happen and we did that a lot of times. They just happened to have the right call on at the right time. Give them credit. We had some guys bite on the play action. They did a good job of faking."

But the Vikings were about to quit.

On a third-and-10 play, Craig Neal rolled right and screened back to the left to Derek Carpenter who made the catch and raced past the Danville defense to the 2-yard line.

Justin Holland scored on the next play and it was 13-6 with 5:20 on the clock. The conversion kick failed.

"I'm proud of these kids and the way they played. Danville seized the momentum and we got it back," Webb said.

A fumble gave Danville the ball at the Vikings 20 in the third quarter, but the Vikings defense held at got the ball at the 25. A 27-yard screen pass to Cory Burcham went for 27 yards, and a screen pass the opposite way on the next play resulted in a 52-yard scoring play to Carpenter.

Webb elected to go for the two-point conversion but Holland was stopped just short of the goal line and the Vikings still trailed 13-12 with 3:30 left in the quarter.

Danville answered with a touchdown aided by a key penalty on the Vikings.

On fourth down at the 48, the Vikings were called for a roughing the punter when Burcham appeared to be blocked into the kicker. The penalty put the ball at the 28 and two plays later Steve Payne bolted 25 yards on a counter to score and make it 19-13.

An 8-yard punt gave Danville the ball at the Vikings 49 with 7:15 to play. Doup had a 23-yard run to the 13 and three plays later he scored from 3 yards out to clinch the win with 2:47 to go.

Doup, the Central District Offensive Player of the Year and a 1,000-yard rusher, was held to 55 yards on 16 carries.

"We did a good job with him other than the one run, and we hit him on hard at the line of scrimmage on that one. He broke tackles and good backs are going to do that," Webb said.

Symmes Valley finished with 218 total yards to 180 for Danville. Neal completed 10 of 19 passing for 165 yards for the Vikings.

"People think we're a run first team and they're right, but we have the ability to throw the ball if we need to," Webb said.

The loss ended an impressive run for nine seniors who helped the Vikings (10-2) reach their first-ever regional title game and win a third straight Southern Ohio Conference championship.

"We had great senior leadership. This group is going to be missed," Webb said of seniors Justin Holland, Craig Neal, Cory Burcham, Derrek Cremeans, Bo Otsby, Michael White, Eli Bowling, Mark Ashworth and Jon Dillon.

Danville (11-2) will play Dola Hardin Northern (12-1) in the state semifinals.