GALION — The Galion Tigers welcomed the Carey Blue Devils of the Northern-10 Athletic Conference to Unckrich Stadium in Heise Park for their home opener on Friday evening.
Galion’s offense would continue to dazzle while the defense stayed tough and the Tigers improved to 2-0 with a 35-6 victory over their guests.
The home team received the opening kickoff to begin the action on the gridiron. In typical fashion so far this season, Galion wasted little time finding the scoreboard. The Tigers rambled off 11 plays in just 3:51 that went a total of 72 yards with the exclamation point added on a 12-yard receiving touchdown by Isaiah Alsip from quarterback Wilson Frankhouse. Dominic Pittman would remain reliable on the extra-point attempt and Galion held an early, 7-0 advantage.
Less than three minutes later, the Tigers struck again as Frankhouse connected with Kalib Griffin from 23-yards out and with the Pittman PAT, it was Galion up 14-0 with 5:24 still remaining in the opening quarter. On Galion’s third possession of the first quarter, Frankhouse was intercepted as time expired in the frame.
In their fourth possession of the game, the home squad would have to punt the ball away but would regain the ball after a Blue Devils’ fumble moments later. The Tigers’ offense would turn turnovers into fortune as Alsip capped the drive with a three-yard touchdown run. Following the Pittman extra-point, Galion held a 21-0 lead with 5:16 remaining in the half.
However, the orange and blue would not be finished as, after another Carey turnover on downs, they regained possession on their own 11-yard line. After moving the ball quickly down the field to try and reach the scoreboard again before the conclusion of the half, head coach Matt Dick used some trickery that saw Alsip now throwing a touchdown pass from five yards out to Jackson Staton as time expired. The reliable Pittman booted his fourth PAT of the evening through and Galion entered halftime with a commanding, 28-0 advantage.
In the first half, the Blue Devils had the ball five times. Their first possession led to a punt while three of their next four would result in turnovers on downs. The remaining possession was the aforementioned fumbled, recovered by Roshod Phelps or Galion.
To begin the second half of play, Alsip intercepted a Carey pass attempt to give the Tigers a chance to potentially create a running-clock scenario. However, on their second play after the interception, a fumble by Trevor O’Brien gave the ball back to the Blue Devils. Carey would convert that turnover into six points to cut the lead to 28-6.
Galion’s second possession of the half would be a different story as Frankhouse found Hanif Donaldson open midfield and then it was off to the races as Donaldson rambled the ball in for the 71-yard touchdown. Another perfect extra-point from Pittman brought the game to its’ eventual final score of 35-6.
On the evening, Galion posted 421 yards of total offense; 304 through the air and 117 on the ground, while Carey managed 258 yards (121 passing, 137 rushing). Each team would commit two turnovers apiece Friday while the Blue Devils held possession for 28:24 to the Tigers 19:36. Despite the victory, Galion would be flagged for a total of eight penalties resulting in 60 yards while Carey received three penalties for just 15 yards.
Frankhouse continued to post impressive numbers from the quarterback slot, completing 19 of 24 pass attempts for 284 yards that led to three touchdowns while also tossing one interception. On the ground, the QB carried the ball seven times for 99 yards. Sam Wegesin got in on the action under center on Friday and completed all three of his pass attempts for 15 yards. Alsip had the one passing touchdown for five yards.
Pittman finished with a spotless performance again, going 5/5 on his extra-point attempts and now sits at 11/11 on the season for Galion.
Additional offensive statistics for the home team against Carey were: Griffin- 5 catches, 106 yards, TD; Alsip- 7 catches, 85 yards, TD; Donaldson- 4 catches, 83 yards, TD; Staton- 4 catches, 15 yards, TD; Jorden Borders- 2 catches, 9 yards; Ian Lehman- 1 catch, 6 yards; Jacob Williams- 3 carries, 7 yards; O’Brien- 8 carries, 5 yards; Tyler Wall- 3 carries, 5 yards; Alsip- 1 carry, 3 yards, TD and Wegesin- 2 carries, 1 yard.
Elsewhere in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference in week two, Clear Fork (1-1) saw their regular-season winning streak come to an end as the fell to Granville; 21-7; River Valley (2-0) 39, Madison 14; Shelby (2-0) 42, Lexington 14; Pleasant (2-0) 43, Paint Valley 21; Ontario (1-1) 28, Highland 7 and Jonathan Alder 38, Harding (0-2) 21.
The Tigers will return to their home field on Friday as they welcome another N-10 opponent to Heise Park in the likes of the Upper Sandusky Rams. Upper currently sits at 1-1 on the season after defeating the Mount Gilead Indians in week two play; 41-21. In week four, MOAC play begins as Galion plays host to the River Valley Vikings.
