West Hi's Brandon Land grabs the jersey of Walnut Hills QB Eric Robinson. (Jeff Swinger photos) | ZOOM |

        Coach Ed Youngs and the Western Hills Mustangs can only wait and hope for a call from the Ohio High School Athletic Association.

        A 35-12 victory over Walnut Hills Friday at Walnut Hills Stadium put the Mustangs in contention for their first Division I playoff berth.

        West Hi would become only the second Cincinnati Public School team to qualify for the playoffs. Cincinnati Academy of Physical Education, which won two state title, is the only CPS team to have qualified before.

        West Hi's victory also locked up a second consecutive Queen City Conference championship for the Mustangs, who are 9-1, with their only loss to Elder.

        Quarterback Dante Little, who threw for 689 yards in the nine previous games, completed 13 of 16 passes for a career-high 225 yards and threw touchdown passes to DeAndre Lewis and Taureen Stephens.

West Hi's DeAndre Lewis breaks away from Mike Beard on a TD run. | ZOOM |

        “The game plan was to take what their defense gave us,” Little said. “They were defensing the run. That opened up the pass.”

        A jubilant Youngs explained why Little was so successful.

        “They (Walnut Hills) put eight (defensive) men in the box and dared us to throw,” Youngs said. “Dante proved tonight that he can throw the ball well.”

        It looked bad for Western Hills after the Eagles took a 12-0 lead in the first quarter.

        Walnut drove 68 yards on 11 plays with Scott Dean scoring on a 2-yard run with 4:56 remaining in the first quarter.

        The Eagles then took advantage of a rare West Hi mistake.

        On the third play of the ensuing series after the kickoff, Little completed a pass to Maurice Kidd, who fumbled the ball into the air.

        Walnut Hills defensive back Montez Mason grabbed the ball and went 41 yards untouched for the score and a 12-0 lead.

        “We fell behind 12-0 last year and came back and won,” Youngs said. “We didn't panic and stayed with the game plan.”

        Western Hills scored four times within the next 10 minutes for a 28-12 halftime advantage.

        Lewis was the first to score, taking a perfect throw from Little from 23 yards out with 11:52 remaining in the half.

        Kevin Furlow, held to 36 yards at halftime, scored on an 8-yard run with 8:11 remaining to push the Mustangs into a 14-12 lead. Furlow finished with 120 yards rushing. “They were keying two men on me in the first half,” Furlow said. “But in the second half, they also had to watch for DeAndre (Lewis). It opened up for me.”

        Walnut Hills never threatened after the first quarter.

        “I'm not sure there was a turning point,” Youngs said. “They played a lot of kids both ways, and we may have worn them down.”

        Western Hills ....... 0  28  0  7—35

        Walnut Hills ....... 12   0  0  0—12

        Wal—Dean 2 run (kick blocked)

        Wal—Mason 41 fumble return (run failed)

        Wes—Lewis 21 pass from Little (Cordrey kick)

        Wes—Furlow 8 run (Cordrey kick)

        Wes—Stephens 53 pass from Little (Cordrey kick)

        Wes—Lewis 76 run (Cordrey kick)

        Wes—Furlow 2 run (Cordrey kick)

        Records: Western Hills 9-1, 7-0 QCC; Walnut Hills 6-4, 6-1 QCC.

        Complete prep football coverage at Enquirer.com/prepfootball

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