On what turned out to be a cold, windy and yes, snowy Friday night, Oct. 20, the Miami Trace Panthers hosted the Washington Blue Lions in the final game of the 2023 regular season.

After the battle was waged and time had expired, the Panthers emerged with a 21-14 victory.

Miami Trace’s team members will be treated to breakfast at McDonald’s Saturday morning.

The good news for both teams is, they are both now heading to the playoffs; Washington in Division IV, Region 16 and Miami Trace in Division III, Region 11.

The playoff pairings will be released Sunday afternoon by the Ohio High School Athletic Association, the governing body of high school sports in Ohio.

Washington had the ball first on this night, the 55th meeting of the two Fayette County teams on the gridiron.

The Blue Lions had a nice kickoff return by Aden Osborne, beginning the first possession of the game at the Miami Trace 39-yard line.

Washington netted just four yards on this possession before turning the ball over on downs to the Panthers.

Miami Trace took over at their own 35-yard line and moved down the field, scoring on their first possession with a 25-yard pass from Trey Robinette to Garrett Guess.

Ian Mavis’ kick gave the Panthers a 7-0 lead at the 7:31 mark of the first quarter.

Washington’s second possession resulted in a 32-yard touchdown pass from Mason Coffman, starting at quarterback in place of his injured brother, Gavin Coffman, to Rocky Jones.

Caiden Justice converted the extra-point kick for Washington, tying the game, 7-7 with 5:37 to play in the first quarter.

The next possession for the Panthers took a bit longer than the first, but the end result was the same — another touchdown.

Asher LeBeau, who took most of the carries on this possession, scored on a 12-yard pass from Robinette.

Mavis’ kick put the score at 14-7 with just 15 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

A few tiny flakes of snow were visible long about this time.

Soon the wind was blowing sheets of snow in a frenzy over the stadium.

This would continue though the second quarter and on into the halftime show in which both bands entertained.

On the next series for Washington, Mason Coffman found Isaac Hood for an 8-yard touchdown pass play.

Justice’ kick tied the game, 14-14 with 7:28 to play in the first half.

Miami Trace turned the ball over on downs at the Blue Lion 28-yard line.

Washington soon brought on Matthew Colflesh to punt.

Miami Trace had the ball at its own 35-yard line.

A couple of plays later, Charlie Eplin dislodged the ball from a Panther carrier and teammate Miguel Utrea recovered at the MT 28-yard line.

With time winding down in the second quarter, the Blue Lions moved the ball to the Miami Trace 5-yard line, but the half ended on a quarterback sack, the game knotted at 14-14.

Miami Trace began the third quarter with possession.

The Panthers appeared on the verge of scoring, but lost a second fumble, this one recovered by Washington’s Gabe Perez.

Washington moved the ball from their own 6-yard line well into Miami Trace territory.

The Blue Lions had the ball at the Panthers’ 17-yard line, but there was an interception by Malachi Jones at the 6-yard line, with time soon elapsing in the third quarter.

It was 14-14 with 12 minutes to play.

Before long, Robinette found a wide-open Evan Mollett for a 55-yard touchdown.

Mavis made the kick to give the Panthers a 21-14 lead with 10:35 to play in the game.

Washington’s next possession was interrupted by an interception by Jake Manbevers at the Blue Lion 31-yard line. There was 9:05 left to be played.

The Blue Lion defense stiffened and soon forced the Panthers to punt.

There was a long return by Mason Coffman, down to about the Miami Trace 5-yard line.

That play ignited the Blue Lions and their fans, giving Washington what appeared to be a golden opportunity to perhaps tie the game.

However, there was an illegal block called against Washington and the Blue Lions had the ball back in its own territory with five minutes to go.

Washington moved the ball across midfield when Malachi Jones struck again, with his second interception of the game.

Miami Trace was soon in punt formation and with the wind at their backs, Robinette’s kick rolled down to the Blue Lions’ 1-yard line.

At this point there were 54 seconds left and Washington was 99 yards away from Miami Trace’s end zone.

Bryson Wallace stepped up for the Panthers and grabbed his team’s fourth interception, which he almost returned for a touchdown.

The Blue Lions were out of time outs and Miami Trace abstained a possible touchdown plunge, took a knee, bringing the 2023 edition of the Fayette County rivalry game, the Battle of the Black and Blue, to an end.

Miami Trace finishes the regular season at 6-4 overall, 3-2 in the FAC.

Washington ends the regular season at 5-5 overall, 2-3 in the conference.

In other FAC games Friday, Jackson defeated Chillicothe, 48-7 and McClain beat Highland County rivals Hillsboro, 21-13.

Jackson completes an undefeated FAC championship season at 5-0. The Ironmen are 9-1 overall, winners of eight games in a row heading into a home playoff game.

Chillicothe finishes 1-9 overall, 0-5 in the FAC.

McClain appears to have qualified for the playoffs, but nothing is official until Sunday afternoon.

The Tigers improve to 6-4 overall and go 2-3 in the FAC.

Hillsboro falls to 5-5 overall, 3-2 in the FAC.

Miami Trace and Hillsboro finish tied for second in the FAC at 3-2.

Washington and McClain tied for fourth place, both at 2-3.

“The defense stepped up,” Miami Trace head coach Jerry Williams said. “The defense did what it needed to do tonight.

“It’s a fantastic win,” Williams said. “I couldn’t be more happy for my seniors, to finish this game the way they finished it right here.

“At this point, we’re going to enjoy this,” Williams said. “Then we’ll think about what we have to do on Monday to get ready for the playoffs.”

“The game came down to turnovers and we had too many penalties,” Washington head coach David Everson said. “Give Trace credit — they were way more physical than we were, up front in the trenches. That is typically where games are won or lost. That is something we have to do a better job of, in our program, moving forward.

“Congratulations to Coach Williams and his staff,” Everson said. “They just out-played us tonight.”

It was Senior Night at Miami Trace and the Panthers sent their seven seniors — Asher LeBeau, Garrett Guess, Bryson Wallace, Cody Gibbs, Nick Farrens, Conor Harrison and Jake Manbevers — out, and into the playoffs, with a win over their closest rivals.

Taking a look at some of the statistics from the game, Miami Trace had 17 first downs to 14 for Washington.

Miami Trace ran the ball 42 times for 215 yards, while Washington ran 32 times for 106 yards.

Trey Robinette completed 5 of 7 passes for 99 yards and three touchdowns.

Mason Coffman completed 8 of 19 for 73 yards and one touchdown and four interceptions.

Washington was penalized six times for 65 yards and Miami Trace had five penalties for 50 yards.

Washington was 3 of 13 converting on third down and Miami Trace was 5 of 10 in that situation.