The tale of the tape
Versailles-West Liberty-Salem
By George Starks  
November  2, 2011 

WEST LIBERTY- When Versailles and West Liberty Salem meet Friday it will be the battle of the Tigers. 

WL-S plays in the Ohio Heritage Conference, coming in with a 10-0 record and is ranked first in the final computer polls in D-V, Region 20. 

Versailles plays in the Midwestern Athletic Conference and will roll into West Liberty with an 8-2 mark, holding the eighth seed, losing only to Coldwater (36-19) and Delphos St. Johns (31-7). 

Going into play Friday, WL-S averages 41.9 points per game while giving up a scant 12.4 points per game on defense. Only one team came close to beating WL-S, that being Southeastern, 28-27 on the Tigers home turf. WL-S recorded one shutout, a 51-0 drubbing of Riverside in week three. 

Versailles averaged 35.7 points a game while allowing 22.2 points per contest. With two losses, the Tigers also pitched two shutouts. The first coming in week seven against New Bremen, 42-0 and in week nine, a 33-0 game against Anna. 

A quick look at WL-S 

Junior quarterback Riley Sims has more weapons than Carter has liver pills. Sims himself is a weapon, having rushed the ball 128 times for 620 yards, a 4.8 yard per rush average. Along with Sims is another QB, Travis Mayse. The junior has ran the ball 59 times for 634 yards, a 10.6 yard per rush average. 

Two seniors also weigh in heavily on the rushing game. Michael Mack has 435 yards on the ground on 45 carries and Zach Konkle with 534 yards of rushing on 73 carries. 

Overall, the Tigers have run the ball 347 times as a team, gaining 2,478 yards, for a 7.14 yard average. That moves the chains every other play. 

If that isn’t enough to keep the Versailles defense busy, they will also have to watch the passing game. 

Sims has passed the ball 101 times, completing 63 of those passes for a 60.4 percent completion rate, averaging 108 yards a game with 13 touchdowns. 

His top target is 5-0, 160 pound senior Greg White. White has 28 catches to his credit with eight scores. Second on the receiving list is his running back, Mack who has 15 catches for four scores, accounting for 12 of his 13 TD passes. 

If numbers mean anything, WL-S is the odds on favorite to win this game, but games aren’t decided by the numbers in the stats but the numbers on the scoreboard.