BUTLER TWP — The Butler County Bears will not be home for the playoffs.

But they should be.

Despite having nine possessions in Youngstown territory — including six inside the Steelers' 15-yard line — the Bears dropped a 12-7 Grid Iron Football Alliance decision Saturday night at Art Bernardi Stadium.

The Bears lost four fumbles in Youngstown territory. They turned the ball over on downs twice inside the 15. A 43-yard pass completion to Eugene Clark — that would have put the ball at the Steelers' 1-yard line — was wiped out by an illegal blocking penalty.

“We gave this one away, no doubt about that,” Bears coach Kirk Bergbigler said.

Then the Steelers tried giving it right back.

A pass interference penalty in the end zone gave the Bears a first down at the Youngstown 1-yard line midway through the fourth quarter. A 1-yard plunge by Justin Sanderson and subsequent PAT by Jason Majocha cut the gap to 12-7 with 7:03 to play.

However, the Steelers (8-2) were able to grind out a few first downs on their next possession, and were in position to kill the clock.

With a first down at the Bears' 40-yard line, 1:38 remaining and Butler County having only one timeout, the Steelers did not take a knee.

Quarterback Jeremy Hobby rolled out, was hit, fumbled, and Butler County's Justin Switzer recovered. A personal foul penalty on the Steelers after the play gave the Bears possession at the Youngstown 37.

“It's amazing how quickly things can turn,” Youngstown coach Chauncy Coleman said. “Our version of taking a knee is running a (quarterback) draw, but Jeremy saw something and audibled.

“He thought he saw an easy touchdown that would have ended the game for sure. It didn't work out that way.”

Bears quarterback Erik Fuhrer scrambled 25 yards for a first down on the next play. But Butler County turned the ball over on downs from there as the Steelers held on.

“We've got 15 guys out with injuries and a few more got hurt tonight,” Coleman said. “Our defense held together when we had to, though.

“We should have killed the clock when we had the chance. That's on me. That was stupid.”

Bergbigler welcomed the last-ditch scoring chance.

“It was shocking they didn't run out the clock,” he said. “It almost worked out for us.”

The Bears had four possessions in the second half. Other than the touchdown, they ended on the Steelers' 13-, 9-, and 8-yard lines.

“We have to finish,” Bergbigler said. “Our running game's been great the past couple of games. I believe we can win by running the ball 70 percent of the time, but we can't turn the ball over.”

The Bears (6-3) rushed for 220 yards Saturday. Stephon Conto had 71 yards rushing and 124 all-purpose yards. James Shope totaled 62 yards on the ground.

The Steelers scored on touchdown passes of 33 and 30 yards in the first half.

Butler County finished third in the GIFA standings and will travel to Erie for a semifinal game on Aug. 27. Had the Bears won Saturday, they would have hosted Youngstown in two weeks.

As it stands, Youngstown won the regular season title and is scheduled to host the league title game Labor Day weekend.

“They don't have acceptable facilities for that game,” Bergbigler said. “We're refusing to go there and so is Erie. We're waiting for a league ruling on that situation.”

Youngstown 12, Butler County Bears 7

Youngstown 6 6 0 0 — 12Butler County 0 0 0 7 — 7Y BC13 First Downs 1527-103 Rushes-Yards 40-220130 Passing Yards 228-19-1 Passes (Comp.-Att.-Int.) 5-12-1233 Total Yards 2422-2 Fumbles-Lost 7-411-95 Penalties-Yards 7-58

First QuarterY — Chris Williams 33 pass from Jeremy Hobby (kick failed), 1:55

Second QuarterY — Mike Parker 30 pass from Hobby (kick blocked), 12:05

Fourth QuarterBC — Justin Sanderson 1 run (Jason Majocha kick), 7:03

Individual StatisticsPassing: Youngstown, Jeremy Hobby 7-16-116-0, Mike Parker 1-3-14-1. Butler County, Erik Fuhrer 5-12-22-1.

Rushing: Youngstown, Dwayne Smith 7-23, Jeremy Hobby 11-25, Matt Firment 7-53, Hannibile Minor 1-(-4), Alex Sampson 1-6. Butler County,. Eugene Clark 12-46, Stephon Conto 5-71, Erik Fuhrer 6-14, Justin Sanderson 7-36, James Shope 8-62, Anthony Rodrigues 1-(-3), Team 1-(-4).

Receiving: Youngstown, Alex Sampson 1-24, Hannible Minor 1-13, Chris Williams 1-33, Mike Parker 3-31, Dwayne Smith 1-15, Brandon Wooding 1-14. Butler County, Jereme Loos 2-12, Cody Williams 2-8, Stephon Conto 1-2.