DAYTON — Edgewood was in decent shape, holding a 7-6 halftime lead over Vandalia Butler in a Division II regional semifinal at Welcome Stadium on Friday. Then three became an unlucky number for the Cougars in their 31-14 loss.

        In the third quarter, Edgewood's first three drives all reached the third play. Each time on that play, the Cougars turned the ball over. All three turnovers set up quick Butler touchdowns, crushing the Cougars' state title dreams before a crowd of 5,746.

        It was Edgewood's fourth straight trip to the playoffs.

        “I can't ever remember turning the football over three straight series,” said Edgewood coach Steve Channell. “You give any good football team 30 yards to score and good teams will score.”

        Edgewood quarterback Kevin Marcum, who hit his first five passes, , was intercepted on the third play of the second half at the Cougar 38, setting the stage for a 2-yard touchdown run by Butler star Zac Molnar. That gave Butler its first lead of the game at 12-7.

        A fumble by Edgewood's Matt Moore three plays into the next drive set up another quick Butler score, with this time Molnar scoring on a 13-yard run with 5:52 left in the quarter for an 18-7 lead.

        Edgewood fumbled yet again — again on the third play of the drive — when Marcum was drilled from behind and Butler's David DeLong recovered at the Edgewood 31. A 28-yard pass to John Goldsberry on first down set up a 1-yard TD dive by Molnar. Butler led 24-7with 3:11 left in the third quarter.

        Molnar was a thorn in Edgewood's side the whole game, rushing 28 times for 179 yards and four TDs.

        “We had a heckuva first half, we were battling,” said Edgewood running back Ryan White, who scored both of his team's TDs in the game. “The fumbles in the second half just killed us.”

        Edgewood proved unable to produce any quick points after falling far behind. The Cougars' only score of the second half came on a drive that included a pair of conversions on 4th-and-long, but it cost the Cougars more than six minutes on the clock before White scored on a 7-yard screen pass from Marcum.

        That cut the Butler lead to 24-14 with 8:50 to play.

        Edgewood outgained Butler 399-333. Marcum completed 11-of-22 passes for 179 yards for Edgewood, while Matt Moore ran 15 times for 74 yards and White added 17 carries for 66 yards.

        Vandalia Butler 0 6 18 7-31

        Edgewood 7 0 0 7-14

        E - White 2 run (Perry kick)

        VB - Busch 80 pass from Betts (run failed)

        VB - Molnar 2 run (run failed)

        VB - Molnar 13 run (kick failed)

        VB - Molnar 1 run (kick failed)

        E - White 7 pass from Marcum (Perry kick)

        VB - Molnar 2 run (Koch kick)

        Records: VB 11-1, E 10-2.

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