BRANCHLAND, W.Va. - Down at halftime in a must-win situation? Who you gonna call?

Seniors.

The Symmes Valley Vikings found themselves in such a predicament Friday, so head coach Rusty Webb challenged his seniors in the locker room.

&#8220I told them it was up to them if they wanted to play another week or call it a career now,” Webb said. &#8220We made a couple of adjustments and the kids did the rest.”

The Vikings outscored the Guyan Valley Wildcats 28-to-16 in the second half to erase the 12-7 halftime deficit and post a 35-28 win.

Symmes Valley finished 7-3 with the win and will be sixth in the final computer ratings of Region 23 in Division VI. The Vikings will play at Shadyside at 7 p.m. Saturday.

&#8220I'll take 7-3 and go to the playoffs,” Webb said.

Guyan Valley (5-4) took a 6-0 lead on a 13-yard pass from Jacob Lucas to Cody Nelson.

In the second quarter, a shanked punt gave the Vikings the ball at the Guyan Valley 25 and three plays later Derek Carpenter scored on a 16-yard run. Kyle Meadows kick the conversion and it was 7-6.

But for the second week in a row, the Vikings opponent scored on the last play of the half. This time, Lucas hit Brandon Frazier with a 13-yard pass to cap an eight-play, 56-yard drive and it was 12-7 at the half.

Symmes Valley outscored the Wildcats 13-0 in the third quarter to take a 20-12 lead.

Carpenter ran 32 yards to put the finishing touches on a 70-yard march. Meadows then returned an interception to the 5-yard line and set up a 4-yard run by Chris Capper. Meadows added the conversion kick with 6:43 on the clock.

The lead grew to 27-12 to start the fourth quarter when Matt Owens ran 2 yards for a touchdown. Meadows again kicked the point after.

The Wildcats scored against on a 25-yard run by Kenneth Nelson and the conversion pass cut the deficit to 27-20.

But it was Carpenter who bailed the Vikings out again with a 26-yard scoring run with 4:46 to play that padded the lead. He also ran for the conversion and it was 35-20.

Lucas hit Cody Nelson with a 19-yard pass and then Frazier caught the conversion pass to make it 35-28.

Owens recovered the onside kickoff and the Vikings ran out the clock to preserve the win.

&#8220Owens' contributions did show up in the boxscore,” Webb said. &#8220Our seniors did an excellent job in the second half. Our offensive line and our backs did an excellent job.

&#8220Derek Carpenter had a monster game. Seth Saunders didn't have the carries but did a nice job blocking. Matt Owens ran inside well and that opened up the outside. You rush for 400 yards, your line is doing a good job.”

Carpenter, a senior, had a season-high 250 yards rushing on 24 carries and scored three touchdowns. Owens, also a senior, had 95 yards on 13 attempts.

The Vikings racked up 389 yards on the ground and 402 total yards to 235 for the Wildcats.

Symmes Valley071315=35

Guyan Valley66016=28

First Quarter

GV – Cody Nelson 13 pass from Jacob Lucas (run failed) 7:17

Second Quarter

SV – Derek Carpenter 16 run (Kyle Meadows kick) 0:53

GV – Brandon Frazier 13 pass from Jacob Lucas (run failed) 0:00

Third Quarter

SV – Derek Carpenter 32 run (kick failed) 9:52

SV – Chris Capper 4 run (Kyle Meadows kick) 6:43

Fourth Quarter

SV – Matt Owens 2 run (Kyle Meadows kick) 11:30 10-56

GV – Kenneth Nelson 25 run (Frazier pass from Lucas) 8:40

SV – Derek Carpenter 26 run (Derek Carpenter run) 4:46 7-80

GV – Cody Nelson 19 pass from Jacob Lucas (Frazier from Lucas) 3:27

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SVGV

First downs1912

Rushes-yards49-38934-66

Passing yards13169

Total yards402235

Cmp-Att-Int1-2-012-26-1

Fumbles-lost2-22-0

Penalties-yards7-705-40

Punts-average1.29.05-31.0

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING – Symmes Valley: Derek Carpenter 24-250, Matt Owens 13-95, Seth Saunders 2-7, Chris Capper 10-37; Guyan Valley: Cody Nelson 14-74, Brandon Frazier 2-14, Jeremy Nelson 5-9, Jacob Lucas 12-minus 35.

PASSING – Symmes Valley: Chris Capper 1-2-0 13; Guyan Valley: Lucas 12-26-1 169

RECEIVING – Symmes Valley: Seth Saunders 1-13; Guyan Valley: Brandon Frazier 6-60, Cody Nelson 3-48.