A few key plays turned the tide Friday night as West Greene pulled out a hard-fought 26-19 win at Cumberland Gap.

Dalton Boles ran for 250 yards on 20 carries including touchdown runs of 62 and 80 yards in the second half to lead the Buffaloes.

Senior quarterback Ryan Shipley led the Cumberland Gap with 90 rushing yards and two TDs and passed for 229 yards and another score.

The Panthers drove down the field to start the game with Shipley connecting with senior receiver Seth Sharpe three times. Shipley capped the drive with a two-yard run and Joseph Jenkins’ kick made it 7-0.

“We got the ball and took it right down and scored, but they made some adjustments and did a good job,” said Cumberland Gap coach Neal Pucciarelli. “They took a lot of our offense away from us and we were limited for a while.”

The score remained 7-0 into the second quarter when Nathan Clarke capped a long West Greene drive with a 5-yard TD run to make it a one-point game.

With Sharpe drawing the Buffs’ attention underneath, sophomore Trey Treece got loose down the seem and took a Shipley pass 48 yards for touchdown and a 13-6 Panther lead.

Cumberland Gap was driving again late in the second quarter, but a trick play went wrong and West Greene intercepted the ball.

“That’s the play that really bothers me and the thing I won’t forget from this game,” Pucciarelli said. “We were up 13-6 near the end of the half and I went for too much. I was trying to run a trick play, Ryan tried to throw it away and it wound up intercepted.

“I got too greedy and it led to a touchdown that never should have happened.”

A 33-yard touchdown run by Justin Evans brought West to within 13-12 at the half.

Another mistake cost the Panthers to start the second half as Boles went 62 yards for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter. He took a pitch to the right, found nothing but open space and outran the Panthers to the end zone.

Pucciarelli said the TD happened because Cumberland Gap only had ten men on the field.

“Trey (Treece) was sick and we didn’t get anyone in and they ran it right to where he’s not and that killed us,” the coach said. “We made mistakes and it cost us.

“I’m not taking anything away from West Greene because they battled and battled and battled. They probably went through as much adversity as we did at times.”

After an exchange of possessions, the Panthers answered back with a 98-yard drive.

Treece caught another long pass over the middle, Sharpe and Damien Kitts also has catches on the drive. But the Panthers did most of their damage on the ground with Jenkins breaking a 7-yard gain up the middle and Shipley doing the rest.

He drug several West Greene defenders with him on a 13-yard keeper for a first down, then showed some surprising nimbleness for a 230-pounder scrambling outside and hurdling a defender for another long gain.

Shipley capped the drive with four straight runs up the middle and followed senior guards David Cornelius and Patrick Francisco into the end zone from two yards out. The extra point was no good, so the Panthers entered the fourth quarter down 20-19.

After trading punts, West took over at their own 20 and Boles got free along the outside again and raced 80 yards for what proved to be the game-clinching score. The extra point was blocked so Panthers trailed just 26-19.

The next Panther drive stalled and West took over deep in their own territory with just over six minutes to play. They converted five first downs as they drove down the field ate up most of the clock.

A West Green running back slipped though the line to convert a big 3rd down that would have clinched the game, but he was caught by Sharpe inside the Panther three yard line and fumbled into the end zone where Daniel Pace recovered.

Cumberland Gap had one last shot from their own 20 with 1:39 to play, but Shipley’s pass was deflected and intercepted and West Greene ran out the clock.

The Panther defense was led by Patrick Francisco with six tackles and five assists while Shipley added four tackles, five assists and an interception.

“I’m real proud of our kids. The only way we’re going to get better, because we’re inexperienced, is by playing. And the more they play the better they’re going to get,” Pucciarelli said. “We’ve got a good attitude, it meant a lot to them. We’re all real disappointed we lost, but we can build from this and move forward.”

Cumberland Gap (2-2, 1-1 in district play) hosts Gibbs next Friday while West Greene (4-1, 1-1) hosts North Greene.

A win could have put the Panthers in the driver’s seat for one of just two guaranteed spots for the 3-A schools in the conference.

“We just have to keep building. We know it’s going to be an up-hill battle every week,” Pucciarelli said. “If we take care of business and we can compete with the Claibornes and Graingers in our conference I think we still have a really good shot. There’s a long way to go.”