LEWISBURG — The traveling Panther trophy, which goes to the winner of the Tri-County North/Twin Valley South football game each year, is staying in West Alexandria for another year.

South rushed for 316 yards and slowly pulled away from their hosts for a 41-16 win on Friday, Oct. 20. The win is South’s third straight in the heated rivalry.

Cais Kingsley rushed for 115 yards and four touchdowns and Brayden Koeller had 122 yards rushing and a touchdown to lead South.

Quarterback Cole Bishop added 81 yards on the ground and passed for another 51 as South improved to 6-4 overall and 6-3 in the Western Ohio Athletic Conference.

For North, Colten Vanwinkle rushed for 235 yards on 23 carries, including an 81-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

It took South less than two minutes to get the scoring started. Kingsley scored on a 4-yard run with 10:07 left in the first quarter.

North got on the board later in the first, capitalizing on a bad snap on a South punt attempt. The ball went out of the back of the end zone for a North safety to make it a 7-2 game.

Bishop added a 45 TD run in the second for a 14-2 lead. A North score made it a 14-9 game before Kingsley added his second TD of the game last in the first half to extend South’s lead to 22-9 after a successful two-point conversion.

A Kingsley TD in the third pushed the lead to 28-9. Two more South scores in the fourth, one by Koeller and one by Kingsley made it a 41-9 game,

Vanwinkle capped the scoring with an 81-yard TD run late in the fourth.

With the win, South clinched a home playoff game. South, the No. 7 seed will host No. 10 Cin. Deer Park in the first round of the Division VI, Region 24 bracket.

North (4-6, 3-5 WOAC), despite the loss qualified for the Division VII, Regional 28 playoffs as the No. 16 seed. They will travel to No. 1 seed Marion Local.

All playoffs games until the state finals will be played on Fridays. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. for both North and South.

Reach Eddie Mowen Jr. at 937-683-4061 and follow on X @emowenjr.