GALION — Day 3 of summer camp for the Galion High School football program saw the Tigers square off against Lexington in a 7-on-7 scrimmage on Wednesday morning at Unckrich Stadium.
Tigers head coach Matt Dick said he and his staff used the scrimmage to gauge the competitive fire of the team rather than skill level so early in the summer workout campaign.
“I told our kids how we compete matters,” Dick said. “I don’t care if they drop the ball, run the wrong route, whatever, but there’s a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it. If you drop the ball, what’s your response — put your head down or keep fighting? They competed well and that’s the response that I wanted. I thought our kids did a good job with their body language. That’s the stuff that really matters right now.
“Offense and defense will come together. We’ve got lots of nice looking athletes. We’re still looking for a quarterback.”
Dick is seeking a replacement for dual-threat quarterback Wilson Frankhouse who passed for 1,266 yards and 17 touchdowns and rushed for 646 yards and six scores during his senior season in 2020. As a junior, he passed for 2,920 yards and 34 touchdowns and rushed for 747 yards and eight touchdowns.
The coach said seniors Hanif Donaldson and Sam Wegesin are battling to become the Tigers No. 1 quarterback in 2021.
“I thought Sam and Hanif both did a good job today,” Dick said after Wednesday’s 7-on-7 scrimmage. “They’re battling it out.”
Dick said the Tigers offensive line returns a host of talented athletes and will be deeper with the addition of some new faces this season. That could dictate a shift in philosophy.
“I think with our offensive line — we’ve got a lot of depth at O-line — it looks like a smash-mouth offensive line,” he said. “We’ve been this five wide (receivers) team, but I think if you look at our personnel, it fits more with running the ball. Guys like Hanif and Sam can run the ball hard, so that’s going to be a big part of our offense. For both of them throwing the ball, they just need to throw on time. We’re trying to get them to read the defender and throw on time.
“They’re going to see some great film where guys are wide open, but they waited two seconds to throw it to them and it gets batted down by the (defensive backs). We’re going to fix that,” he added. “But for the first time out, I was really happy and the kids were great. I thought Lexington gave us good competition. It was a nice little 7-on-7.”
Dick noted that Clayton Yost, Caden Roberts, Mitchell Young, Holden Hunter, Alex Griffith, Justin Lester, and Landon Kurtzman will help anchor the offensive line this season.
“Those guys look great,” Dick said. “They’ve been lifting hard for us this summer. We’re excited about what they can do. It doesn’t matter who’s playing running back or quarterback, running behind them should be a fun thing to do this year.”
Dick said nearly the entire defensive backfield from 2020 is back for the 2021 campaign. He said he likes what he sees developing at linebacker, too.
“We’ve got some good things going,” Dick said. “We’re still trying to get the defensive line going, but that’s usually the last thing we build on defense. I’m excited about where we’re at. We cranked it up this week and then we’ll back it down for (the Independence Day holiday) and then we’ll crank it up again.”
Galion will play a 7-on-7 scrimmage on Tuesday, July 13 at Centerburg and has another home 7-on-7 set for Thursday, July 15 against Fredericktown. The game against the Freddies is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Unckrich Stadium.
The final 7-on-7 scrimmage is scheduled for Tuesday, July 20 at North Canton Hoover. The Tigers will also visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton during that trip.
Galion Tigers Football 2021
Friday, Aug. 20 at Elgin, 7 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 27 vs. Carey, 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 3 vs. Upper Sandusky, 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 10 vs. River Valley (MOAC), 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 17 at Marion Harding (MOAC), 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 24 vs. Clear Fork (MOAC), 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 1 at Shelby (MOAC), 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 8 at Ontario (MOAC), 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 15 vs. Lima Central Catholic, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 22 at Pleasant (MOAC), 7 p.m.
