Walton-Verona 33, Lloyd 26

CINCINNATI - After watching their season come to an end last year on their own field in as loss to the Lloyd Juggernauts, the Walton-Verona Bearcats did not enough on Friday night to make sure it wasn’t going to happen again as they prevailed 33-26 to advance to the Class 2A regional finals.

Walton-Verona (10-2) got another big night from sophomore running back Will Latimore, who finished with 132 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries while adding three catches for 63 yards. Chris Latimore did his part picking up 6.5 yards per carry as he finished with 71 yards rushing and Mason Compton scored a pair of touchdowns in the victory.

The Bearcats’ defense held the Juggernauts in check most of the night, giving up just six points in the first three quarters of the game. Senior Cole Mosier had a pair of sacks and seven total tackles to lead the charge.

Dexter Smith saw his Lloyd (8-4) career come to an end, but the senior went down slinging. He completed 14-of-27 passes for 174 yards and four touchdowns in the loss. Tomi Mejolagbe pulled in two of those TD’s and finished with 51 yards on five receptions.

Walton-Verona will meet the winner of Saturday’s NewCath/Holy Cross matchup in next week’s Class 2A regional final.