CROWN CITY — The Symmes Valley Vikings defense not only stood up, but it stood tall.

The defense turned in three goal line stands as the Vikings battled to an 11-8 win over the South Gallia Rebels Friday night.

“The last two weeks our kids figured out they could play, especially on defense,” said Vikings coach Rusty Webb. “We showed a lot of heart and true grit.”

South Gallia (4-6) drove 76 yards in 11 plays to start the game, but Evan Herrell came up with an interception on a slant pass to end the threat.

Symmes Valley (3-7) turned around and went 77 yards in 16 plays only to be stopped on downs the Rebels’ defense.

“We thought the game was going to be a ball-control the way it started,” said Webb. “We played hard. That’s two weeks in a row. We hope it’s a springboard for next year.”

The game was scoreless until the second quarter when Ethan Wilson returned a punt 49 yards to set up a Vikings’ field goal.

An offside penalty on third-and-2 stymied the drive and the Vikings had to settle for a 22-yard field goal by Cody Bland.

South Gallia got good field position on the kickoff and went 56-yards to score on a 1-yard run by John Wells. Caleb McClannnahan caught the conversion pass.

“They ran an option and their quarterback read it well,” said Webb.

South Gallia used a 52-yard run by Nathan Bainter to the 4-yard line in the third quarter, but an offside penalty on third-and-3 put the ball at the 8.

The Rebels attempted back-to-back passes, but John Bryant and Jonathon Combs sacked Wells on third down, and Kyle Bowen and Brice Sexton got the sack on the next play.

“Our defense really stepped up. We had a pretty good pass rush from our two seniors ends (Bryant and Combs) and on fourth down from Kyle Bowen and Brice Sexton teamed up to get the sack,” said Webb.

“We had the best pass coverage we’ve had all year. We had six pass breakups. That’s pretty good.”

In the fourth quarter, Ethan Wilson returned a punt from his 8-yard line to the 49.

“Our punt return played a big part in both of our scores. Special team had something to do with both our scores,” said Webb.

The Vikings went 51 yards in three plays keyed by a 27-yard pass from Chirs Capper to Kyle Bowen.

Capper ran 15 yards on a quarterback draw on the next play, and on second-and-goal at he rolled out and found Bowen in the end zone and the Vikings were up 9-8.

Capper ran for the conversion and it was 11-8 with 4:55 to go.

The defense stopped the Rebels on their next series and ran out the final 1:38 to clinch the win.

“I’m very proud of seniors our four seniors (Capper, Sexton, Combs, and Bryant). They all contributed,” said Webb.

“Ethan Wilson and Evan Herrell did a good job, Cody Bland and Hunter Boggs played well on defense and Kyle Bowen on offense. And I have to thank the community. We had great support. We had a huge crowd and that helped us.”

Capper ran 19 times for 94 yards and was 6 of 10 passing for 59 yards.

Symmes Valley0308=11

South Gallia0800=8

Second Quarter

SV — Cody Bland 22 field goal 7:30

SG — John Wells 1 run (Caleb McClannahan pass from Wells) 3:27

Fourth Quarter

SV — Kyle Bowen 7 pass from Chris Capper (Capper run) 4:55

SVSG

First downs1211

Rushes-yards40-14841-163

Passing yards5933

Total yards207196

Cmp-Att-Int6-10-04-13-1

Fumbles-lost0-01-0

Penalties-yards4-384-15

Punts-average2-35.03-32.7

Individual Leaders

RUSHING—Symmes Valley: Kyle Bowen 8-11, Evan Herrell 2-6, Chris Capper 19-94, Hunter Boggs 11-37. South Gallia: Nathan Bainter 9-109, Vance Fellure 10-33, John Wells 17-23.

PASSING—Symmes Valley: Chris Capper 6-10-0 59. South Gallia: John Wells 4-13-1 33.

RECEIVING—Symmes Valley: Wayne Meade 1-31, Hunter Boggs 2-1, Kyle Bowen 3-34. South Gallia: Tyler Duncan 1-20, Caleb Ludwig 1-5, Caleb McClannahan 2-8.