WEST JEFFERSON — The Toronto football team took a gamble. Unfortunately, it did not pay off for the Red Knights.

Trailing No. 3 seed West Jefferson by seven points in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter, sixth-seeded Toronto scored a touchdown on a 4-yard pass from Michael Henry to Brody Close to pull the Red Knights to within 21-20 with 19.7 fateful seconds on the clock.

Toronto could have kicked the extra point to try to tie the score; however, the Red Knights rolled the dice and went for 2. Henry’s pass was a completion, but the Rough Riders stopped the play short of the goal line keeping themselves ahead by one point.

Trailing by a point, Toronto had to attempt an onside kick. Henry’s kick took a big bounce, but the Rough Riders were able to recover it and they took a knee on the ensuing play to run out the clock as they held on for a thrilling 21-21 victory in an Ohio Division VI, Region 23 quarter final on a rainy Friday night out at Kile Field.

“We decided to go for 2 before the drive started,” Toronto (9-2) head coach Jaret Aubiel said. “I think it was the right thing to do. We trusted our guys to go out and make a play. I would go for 2 again in the same spot. Overall, I’m just really proud of these kids and the coaching staff for everything they accomplished this year.”

With the win, West Jefferson will play No. 2 seed Fort Frye at 7 p.m. on the road in the regional semifinals. Fort Frye — the No. 2 seed — dispatched No. 10 seed Caldwell, 28-14, in the quarterfinals.

Trailing by seven points and following a long kickoff return by Max Rebich, the Red and White started the final drive of the night at the West Jefferson 38. Three straight completions from Henry to Brady Fair moved the ball down to the Rough Riders’ 5. Henry was stopped for a gain of 1 on first down, and the visitors elected to let the clock continue to run instead of stopping it by calling timeout.

On second down, Henry found Close open in the flat for the touchdown setting up the deciding 2-point conversion attempt.

“The kids played really hard all year,” Aubiel said. “They played really hard tonight. We just came up one play short. I am really proud of all the guys and the coaching staff for everything they have done all year. I want to thank our fans for all of their support all year and all their support tonight.”

The game was scoreless at the end of the first quarter. Both teams were able to break through in the second.

West Jefferson struck first as the Rough Riders marched 80 yards for the first score of the night. The hosts drove down the field as they were able to mix the run and the pass, and Braxton Vance capped off the march with a 6-yard run, and Jaxon Bare booted the extra point to give West Jefferson a 7-0 lead with 8:22 remaining in the quarter.

The Red Knights attempted to respond on their ensuing drive, but the visitors were stopped for a loss on fourth down, giving the ball back to the Rough Riders at their own 45. Toronto’s defense stiffened and forced West Jefferson to punt the ball back to the Red Knights.

Following the punt, the Red Knights took over at their own 17 and drove 83 yards for a touchdown.

Colt Joynson got things rolling with a 15-yard reception and a 16-yarder to Fair moved the ball to the West Jefferson 43. A sacked backed the ball back to midfield, but a leaping catch from Joynson resulted in a 25-yard gain.

Toronto drove into the red zone thanks to a completion to Rebich, and a personal foul call on the play advanced the ball down to the 6. From there, Henry hooked up with Fair for a 6-yard score to make it a 7-6 ballgame. Unfortunately for Toronto, the extra point was no good keeping the Rough Riders ahead by a point with 34 seconds left to play before halftime.

The missed extra point proved to be the start of a rough end to the first half for the Red Knights.

Following a squib kick, West Jefferson took over at their own 35, and it took just three plays to reach paydirt for the second time. A long pass got things started, and another completion moved the ball down to the Toronto 13. Then, quarterback Austin Buescher hooked up with Jackson Beatty for a 13-yard score across the middle, and Bare booted the PAT to give his team a 14-6 advantage with 7 seconds still showing on the scoreboard clock.

Toronto got the ball back for one final play before halftime, but a long pass fell incomplete keeping the Red Knights deficit at eight points heading into the locker room.

The Red Knights received the ball to start the second half, and a 27-yard run by Henry moved the ball to the WJ 43. Then on 4th-and-9, Henry hooked up with Fair for a 10-yard catch-and-run to keep the drive alive. The drive stalled at the 25 as Toronto elected to go for it on fourth down for the second time on the drive, but West Jefferson came away with an interception as they took control of the ball at their own 7.

A big completion gave the home team some breathing room, but the drive came to an end at their own 48 when the Toronto defense stopped Vance for a loss on fourth down.

Unfortunately, the visitors were unable to take advantage of the good field position as West Jefferson intercepted another pass to give the ball back to their offense.

The Red Knights defense rose to the occasion once again as they forced the Rough Riders to punt, and Christian Briggs blocked the kick giving the ball back to Toronto at its own 49.

Following a 15-yard penalty by West Jefferson, Toronto had the ball at the Rough Riders 36 in the closing seconds of the third when Aubiel took something out of his bag tricks.

The effort paid off big time for the Red Knights as Rebich hooked up with Joynson for a 36-yard score, and another trick play on the 2-point conversion resulted in Rebich hooking up with Henry for the conversion to knot the score at 14 with no time left in the quarter.

The two teams then traded punts with West Jefferson taking over at its own 11 following Henry’s punt.

The Rough Riders drove 89 yards to regain the lead as Buescher drove his team down the field thanks in large part to his arm. A 13-yard completion to Blake Bogenrife got things going in the right direction, and a 14-yarder to Vance and a 12-yarder to Beatty gave West Jefferson a first down at the Toronto 42.

Two plays later, Buescher hooked up with Bogenfire down the middle for a 40-yard touchdown, and Bare split the uprights on the extra point to put West Jefferson ahead, 21-14, with 2:36 remaining in the game.

“Our kids never quit,” Aubiel said. “I hope, at the end of the day, this is a team that made Toronto proud.”