Galion defense stout in win over River Valley

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Galion 38, River Valley 6

GALION — The Galion Tigers entered week four of the high school football season looking to remain undefeated but so did their opponents, the visiting River Valley Vikings.

On Friday night, the two squads met to open Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference play at Unckrich Stadium in Heise Park.

Galion won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff. The choice would pay off as, following a 12-play drive that saw the Tigers go 65 yards in 6:29, they took the 7-0 lead after an Isaiah Alsip three-yard rushing score and a Dominic Pittman extra-point. On the ensuing drive, River Valley went three-and-out with each play resulting in negative yardage.

The home team would lose the ball on their second drive after a rare fumble from All-Ohian Alsip. On the Vikings’ second drive, at the 10:33 mark in the first quarter, they would final convert a play for positive yardage. The joy would be short lived however as, to begin the second, River Valley fumbled and Galion would once again take over.

On that drive, Galion would move the ball down the field with ease with the drive ending with an exclamation point provided by a three-yard touchdown run by senior Trevor O’Brien. Pittman nailed the PAT and, with 8:51 left in the half, the Tigers extended their lead to 14-0. After another River Valley punt, Galion took over with a short field at the Vikings’ 33-yard line. The drive would end with Hanif Donaldson punching it in from a yard out and Pittman adding the PAT.

With 1:23 remaining in the opening half, River Valley found the scoreboard for what would prove to be the first and final time of the contest but would fail to convert the two-point conversion.

The two teams would enter halftime with the Tigers on top; 21-6. In the first half of play, Galion would see three touchdowns called back due to penalty flags, including an 82-yard kick return touchdown from Alsip following the lone Vikings’ score.

Things began roughly for River Valley in the third as they went three-and-out on the opening drive and gave Galion the ball back following a disastrous punt. Galion would fail to move the ball, actually losing eight yards on the possession but Pittman tacked on three additional points for the home team with a 42-yard field goal.

On the ensuing drive, the visitors would be forced to punt again and Galion went down the field to eventually score on that drive thanks to a 16-yard rushing score from Donaldson. However, for the fourth time in the game, the TD would be erased on a penalty. Later in the drive, Wilson Frankhouse found Jackson Staton for the six-yard aerial strike score. Pittman added the PAT and the Tigers moved ahead; 31-6.

River Valley would be forced to punt again on their next drive. The Vikings would catch a brief break as an inadvertent whistle prevented returner Kalib Griffin from taking in a 57-yard touchdown. Just two plays later though, Frankhouse would find O’Brien who took off following the catch for a 54-yard score. Pittman kicked the extra-point through, taking the Galion lead to 38-6 and initiating the “running clock rule”. That would prove to be it as Galion moved to 4-0 overall and began their MOAC schedule at 1-0 while River Valley fell to 3-1 overall and 0-1 in the league.

Northmor 27, Centerburg 21

GALION — The Northmor Golden Knights football squad kicked-off the Knox-Morrow Athletic Conference portion of their schedule on Friday, playing host to the visiting Centerburg Trojans.

After the first quarter of play, Centerburg held a slim, 7-6 advantage but Northmor would make things even more interesting and the two teams headed into halftime tied at 14 points apiece.

The Knights would score the only six points of the third, putting themselves up 20-14 entering the potential final quarter. In that fourth, Northmor would tally their fourth touchdown of the game to extend their lead; 27-14. With 3:05 left in regulation, Centerburg would punch in a one-yard run and convert the extra-point but it would not be enough as Northmor improved to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the KMAC with the 27-21 victory. Centerburg falls to 2-2 on the season with the loss and begin conference play at 0-1.

Colonel Crawford 46, Upper Sandusky 28

UPPER SANDUSKY — Following their late night in week three, Colonel Crawford took to the road in week four play to begin their Northern-10 Athletic Conference schedule against the hosting Upper Sandusky Rams.

The Eagles would soar to an 18-point victory; 46-28. With the win, Crawford improves to 3-1 overall on the season and 1-0 in the N-10 while Upper falls to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in conference play.

Crestline 33, North Baltimore 28

CRESTLINE — Crestline welcomed the North Baltimore Tigers to their home field on Friday night to compete in week two of Blanchard Valley Conference play.

Entering the fourth quarter of play, the Bulldogs found themselves trailing by a score of 21-6. However, they refused to roll over as they capped an unbelievable comeback, with the final punctuation coming with just 18 seconds to go as Austin Silverwood scored from 11-yards out. With the added PAT, the score went in Crestline’s favor, and to its’ eventual final, of 33-28.

With the win, Crestline improves to 2-2 overall on the season and 1-1 in BVC play.

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Knights, Eagles and Bulldogs all prevail

By Chad Clinger

[email protected]

Follow Chad on Twitter @GalionSportsGuy

Reach Chad at 419-468-1117 x2048

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