WEST PORTSMOUTH — The West Senators jumped out to a three-touchdown lead — and held off a furious Waverly comeback attempt — in their 49-42 home victory over the Tigers on Friday night in Southern Ohio Conference Division II play.

The win is West’s first over Waverly since the 2017 season, which later saw the Senators finish the year with a 10-2 record — including a playoff win over Martins Ferry.

The Senators outgained the visiting Tigers in total yardage 471-355 — and nearly doubled their rushing output, thanks to another huge game on the ground by senior Ryan Sissel.

Sissel toted the ball 32 times of West’s 57 offensive plays, and amassed 232 yards rushing with four touchdowns.

Two of those paydirt trips were from a yard away in the second quarter, followed by a 54-yard third-quarter jaunt — which made it 33-21 West with five minutes remaining in the period.

Mason Parker, who had a 28-yard touchdown run that made it 41-21 with only 13 minutes and 36 seconds to go, chipped in 43 yards on seven carries.

After a punt ended the Senators’ first offensive series, their offense would put together six straight touchdown drives.

West junior Jeffery Bishop caught a pair of touchdown passes from senior quarterback Mitchell Irwin.

Bishop’s first touchdown grab was a 24-yard gain that put the Senators ahead 7-0 near the end of the first quarter, following a made extra point by Carson Malnar.

With only three minutes and five seconds left in the opening period, that pitch-and-catch capped an 11-play, 48-yard scoring drive.

Later in the first half, midway through the second period, Bishop caught a 52-yard touchdown pass from Irwin —making it 21-0 at that point.

In total, the senior wideout tallied 127 yards on only five catches.

The Tigers trailed 21-0 in the second quarter, before falling behind 27-7 in the second and 41-21 in the third.

The Tigers twice got to within six points —at 27-21 in the third and at 41-35 a full 12 minutes and six seconds later with 8:18 remaining.

The Senators’ second-longest scoring series of 10 plays and 50 yards, and a two-yard TD run AND a two-point conversion run by Sissel, sealed the win with only 2:25 left —making it 49-35.

Waverly scored a seven-yard touchdown with 2:04 to play in the fourth to bring its deficit to within seven points at 49-42— after trailing by 20 or more points on three separate occasions.

However, after West recovered a Waverly onside-kick attempt, the Senators were able to run out the clock to secure the victory.

Waverly quarterback Mason Kelly completed two-thirds (20) of his 30 pass attempts for 204 yards and five touchdowns —11 completions of which went to Mason Pollard (98 yards and 2 TD), four to Hudson Kelly (55 yards and 2TD), and three to Kody Swords (51 yards and one TD).

Jase Hurd had that final touchdown for the Tigers, which made it 49-42 and with 2:04 to play, combined with Hunter Hauck’s six of six successful extra-point kicks.

Hurd helped the Tiger chargeback with 128 yards on 25 carries.

Kelly’s counterpart Irwin was incomplete on only one of 10 passes, with 191 yards and the two TD tosses to Bishop.

Malnar made three extra-point kicks for the Senators for their first three PATs, as Bishop and Sissel with two-point runs made up the final two conversion tries.

Defensively, Sissel and Cole Windsor were credited with 16 tackles apiece, followed by 13 from Parker.

West (5-1), riding a five-game winning streak, will travel to Minford on Friday night — seeking a 2-0 start to its SOC II slate.

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BOX SCORE

Waverly 0 14 7 21 — 42

West 7 20 14 8 — 49

West — Jeffery Bishop, 24-yard pass from Mitchell Irwin (Carson Malnar kick), 3:05, 1st (7-0 West)

West — Ryan Sissel, 1-yard run (Carson Malnar kick), 11:34, 2nd (14-0 West)

West — Jeffery Bishop, 52-yard pass from Mitchell Irwin (Carson Malnar kick), 5:47, 2nd (21-0 West)

Waverly — Hudson Kelly, 22-yard pass from Mason Kelly (Hunter Hauck kick), 2:29, 2nd (21-7 West)

West — Ryan Sissel, 1-yard run (kick failed), 1:23, 2nd (27-7 West)

Waverly — Kody Swords, 29-yard pass from Mason Kelly (Hunter Hauck kick), :03, 2nd (27-14 West)

Waverly — Mason Pollard, 8-yard pass from Mason Kelly (Hunter Hauck kick), 8:24, 3rd (27-21 West)

West — Ryan Sissel, 54-yard run (pass failed), 5:01, 3rd (33-21 West)

West — Mason Parker, 28-yard run (Jeffery Bishop run), 1:36, 3rd (41-21 West)

Waverly — Mason Pollard, 15-yard pass from Mason Kelly (Hunter Hauck kick), 11:32, 4th (41-28 West)

Waverly — Hudson Kelly, 15-yard pass from Mason Kelly (Hunter Hauck kick), 8:18, 4th (41-35 West)

West — Ryan Sissel, 2-yard run (Ryan Sissel run), 2:25, 4th (49-35 West)

Waverly — Jase Hurd, 7-yard run (Hunter Hauck kick), 2:04, 4th (49-42 West)

Team stats	Waverly	West
Plays	65	57
Yards (Pass-Rush)	355 (204-151)	471 (191-280)
First Downs	22	24
Turnovers	0	0
Penalties	7 for 52 yards	8 for 91 yards
Time of Possession	20:16	27:44

Individual stats

Passing: Mason Kelly (W) 20-30 204 yards 5TD; Mitchell Irwin (PW) 9-10 191 2TD

Rushing: Jase Hurd (W) 25-128 TD, Peyton Harris (W) 6-25, Quinton Hurd (W) 2-2, Hudson Kelly (W) 1-(-1); Ryan Sissel (PW) 32-224 4TD, Mason Parker (PW) 7-43 TD, Mitchell Irwin (PW) 4-3, Jeffery Bishop (PW) 2-9, Hayden Lore (PW) 2-4,

Receiving: Mason Pollard (W) 11-98 2TD, Hudson Kelly (W) 4-55 2TD, Kody Swords (W) 3-51 TD, Wyatt Crabtree (W) 1-2, Jase Hurd (W) 1-(-2); Jeffery Bishop (PW) 5-127 2TD, Cole Tipton 1-28, Alex Blevins (PW) 1-15, Brandon Anderson (PW) 1-15, Brandon Barfield (PW) 1-6