SPENCERVILLE — One yard.

One yard from breaking a 4-game losing streak to its bitter backyard gridiron rival and possibly clinching a playoff berth.

Alas for Jefferson, that yard might as well have been a mile as the Spencerville defense kept them from that one yard and held on for a 17-14 season-ending victory at soggy Memorial Field Friday night in a Northwest Conference tilt.

Trailing 17-14 and needing a big play from its special teams, the Jeffcats (7-3, 5-3 NWC) got it. With junior Tyler Keysor back to punt from the Bearcats’ 39, junior Sean Osting broke through and blocked it, with senior Michael Wiltsie recovering at the 17 with 2:51 left. Junior Bubba Shivley (17 totes, 100 yards) ran for 10 for a 1st-and-goal. Three running plays put the pigskin at the 1 and Jefferson coach Damon Ulm called his final timeout.

“I asked the kids what they wanted to do; kick the field goal or go for it. They wanted to go for it,” Ulm explained.

So they did, with junior QB Josh Miller handing the ball to Shivley off right guard. The interior of the Bearcat D-line held up, stopping the bulldozing fullback short and taking over with 29 ticks to go.

“There’s no finger-pointing at the kids or second-guessing,” Ulm continued. “The first thing I told the kids after the game was we win as a team and lose as one. I’ll take any of the blame.”

Senior QB Adam Wolfe (7-of-10 passing, 62 yards) took a knee outside the end zone as the clock wound down on the game and likely the season for the Jeffcats.

“We have a very slim possibility of making the playoffs,” he acknowledged.

For Spencerville (5-5, 5-3 NWC) coach Bruce McConnell, it was a fine way to cap off a disappointing season.

“It’s a great win for the kids. We felt that if healthy, our defense could be a strong unit and they held up tonight with their backs to the wall,” he said. “The defense accepted the challenge at the end. Outside of their first drives of each half, the defense held them in check.”

Spencerville got the lead off of its defense, recovering a fumble at the Delphos 6 with 8:27 remaining. Three plays later at the 11, junior Matt Wirth, with a strong wind out of the south at his back, easily delivered a 28-yard field goal for that 3-point margin with 6:11 left.

Delphos could not answer and Spencerville couldn’t get a first down, with the blocked punt ensuing to set up the late-game heroics.

Jefferson began the game by holding the Bearcats to a 3-and-out and taking over at their 42. Despite a holding call, they marched the distance in three plays, keyed by a 47-yard jaunt by Shivley. At the Spencerville 16, junior Tim Sanders swept left end, made a nice hip swivel to juke a defender at the 10 and found paydirt. Matt Antalis added the kick for a 7-0 spread with 9:10 left in the first.

“It didn’t start out really good for us. They marched it down the field on us  on the first possession of each half,” McConnell said. “We had to adjust to their speed and physical play. The biggest thing was we did not put the ball on the ground. Adam has the smallest hands for a quarterback I’ve ever seen and he did a great job hanging onto the ball, especially when it started raining.”

A holding penalty kept Jefferson from a potential drive on its second series.

Spencerville began to win the battle of field position, downing a punt at the Wildcat 1.

After forcing a 3-and-out and a 20-yard shanked punt out of the end zone, the Bearcats commenced at the Delphos 25. Three plays hence at the 10, Wolfe rolled right and found senior Ben Hatfield (21 totes, 58 yards; 3 grabs, 37 yards) in the right flat at the 8. He turned up and crossed the goal line. Wirth added the kick for a 7-all tie with 7:57 left in the half.

A series later, Spencerville began at its 41 with 5:42 showing in the half. Six plays later at the Delphos 19, Wirth lined up for a 36-yard field goal try but an offside penalty kept the drive alive. Three more plays had the ball at the 1, where senior Matt Kill burrowed under left guard with 37 ticks on the clock. Wirth made the halftime margin 14-7.

Sanders returned the second-half kickoff 41 yards to put Jefferson at the Bearcat 49. Five plays later at the 5, Miller (4-of-10 passing, 45 yards) mini-rolled to his right and led Antalis perfectly toward the sideline for the six. Antalis added the point-after for a 14-all tie with 9:19 showing.

After an offside call on Delphos on the ensuing kickoff, Ulm gambled on an onside kick by Antalis that he recovered at the 47. However, Jefferson couldn’t take advantage as the heavy rains and wind descended on the field and sophomore Jordan Jettinghoff boomed a 52-yard punt into the end zone.

“We made too many mistakes to keep our momentum after our first drives. Still, I’m so proud of these kids, especially our five seniors,” Ulm added. “They were part of that 0-10 team two years ago. We took a big step last year with 5-5 and another step this year with 7-3. It’s because of the kids’ desire to work and get better.”

With the Bearcats having that wind in the fourth period, they couldn’t take advantage. One drive ended on an interception by junior Sean Fisher at the Delphos 13 but two plays later came the fumble that led to the winning field goal.

“We lose 11 good seniors but we have a lot of good players to build around next year,” McConnell ended.