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Keaton Gates ran wild and freshman Teddy Bucknell added a touchdown for West Branch but it wasn’t quite enough to get a win.

West Liberty scored 12 unanswered points in the fourth quarter including the go-ahead touchdown with 22 seconds remaining to earn a 26-21 win over West Branch in the season opener for both teams on Friday in West Liberty.

Gates ran for 218 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries, scoring on runs of 12 and 69 yards to lead West Branch.

Bucknell added a 1-yard touchdown run that gave West Branch a 21-14 lead in the fourth quarter.

Junior quarterback Dillan Schenkel ran for 44 yards and passed for 25 yards for the Bears.

Gates led West Branch with 15 tackles while sophomore Motley Johnston had 13 tackles for the Bears.

                                      WB                 WL

First downs                19                    21

Rushes-yards             41-277             44-205

Comp-Att-Int            3-12-1             9-15-1

Passing yards             25                    114

Total yards                302                  319

Punts-Avg.                 0-0                   1-68

Fumbles-lost              0-0                   0-0

Penalties-yards          5-22                 4-41

West Branch              7  6  0   8   –  21

West Liberty             7  7  0  12  –  26

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