GALION — The stretch run to the opening day of the high school football season began on Monday for Galion.
Head Coach Matt Dick said he was pleased with how his Tigers performed just 18 days away from the season opening game against Elgin on Friday, Aug. 20.
“It went really well. I liked the effort,” said Dick, who enters his sixth season in charge of the Tigers football program. He’s directed Galion to a 27-24 record and two playoff appearances (2019, 2020) during his tenure.
“I think Hanif Donaldson, Garrett Ison, Jorden Borders, Kyle Foust — all those guys did good job being senior leaders today,” Dick said. “We had good numbers. We had a couple of freshmen show up that we were hoping would and they did, so that was exciting. We had a good first day.”
Dick said his main concern is the relatively short period of time teams have to prepare for the regular season.
“I’m still a little worried about how fast everything’s coming,” he said. “I think reducing a week of two-a-days, it makes it hard on teams.”
Dick said Hanif Donaldson has earned the starting quarterback position and fellow senior Sam Wegesin is moving to running back or receiver.
“Hanif has definitely taken that spot,” he said. “(Sam) has played a little bit of both positions and he’s done a nice job at both of them. He looked good in our 7-on-7 scrimmages at receiver. We have Cooper Kent as a backup quarterback and he’s only a sophomore and Braxton Prosser is a freshman. Both those guys are pretty special young quarterbacks and I’m excited to see how they grow. We’re hoping Hanif holds that down this year.”
Galion has two preseason scrimmages scheduled. The first is at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 7 at Highland. The second is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 13 at Tiffin Columbian.
Dick said those two programs will present some varied looks for the Tigers to face.
“We originally picked Highland because they’re a traditional Wing-T team and they kind of evolved last year, using more of a spread offense,” Dick said. “They’ve got a new coach, so we’ll see what they do there, but they always give us a nice smashmouth look. Tiffin Columbian is as good as anybody in the area. They give you a chance to see speed and size, great technique and good coaching. I love matching up with them, but I’m glad it’s only a half because they get pretty physical and nasty, but it shows our kids what it takes to win a playoff game. If you can go toe-to-toe with them for a half, then good things are going to happen during the season.”
In addition to Elgin, Galion’s early season schedule includes home games against Carey on Aug. 27 and Upper Sandusky on Sept. 3 prior to the start of Mid Ohio Athletic Conference play on Sept. 10 against River Valley.
