Galion, Ivy run past Marion Harding to open MOAC

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GALION — If Galion receives the same Gabe Ivy they had on Friday night against Marion Harding on every Friday might, they’ll be a tough out against anyone they’ll play this season. Galion beat Marion Harding, 35-7, in large part to their offense that broke loose for the first time this season.

“We took a big step forward. We had a good week of practice this week,” Galion head coach Matt Dick said. “I think you saw it looked a little better on Friday night.”

The junior, Ivy, ran for 279 yards on the ground and scored four touchdowns. It was a special performance to open up Mid Ohio Athletic Conference play.

“Hats off to Gabe Ivy. He ran the ball angry,” Dick said. When he runs like that, not everyone in our conference has a kid like that. When he runs average, then everybody’s got them. He was special tonight.”

Ivy scored one of his two first-half touchdowns to break the scoreless game. Ivy ran hard 11-yards to find the goal line at the 2:43 mark in the first quarter.

Linkon Tyrrell ended a Harding drive on the Galion (2-2, 1-0 MOAC) side of the field with an interception to help out the defense a drive later.

Both offenses sputtered any action until Ivy broke one 72-yards up the middle to give the Tigers a 14-0 lead over Harding.

The Presidents (0-4, 0-1 MOAC) answered just before the half when Alex Stokes found a streaking Marquis Long down the middle of the field. Long took the reception 62 yards for the score to make it a one-possession game at halftime. Long led the Harding offense with five catches and 149 yards.

Galion put together a nice drive late in the third quarter to make it a two-possession game. Ivy capped off a drive with a 1-yard carry into the end zone.

“Our o-line can be pretty special when they want to be. They don’t always want to be,” Dick said jokingly. “When they put it together we look pretty awesome.”

Things went terrible for Harding, as Long muffed a punt, and Cooper Kent recovered it inside the Presidents’ 10-yard line. Ivy did the rest from there.

Cody Maison grabbed his first career interception for the Tigers. Junior Logan Shifley scored from 26 yards on a carry up the left side. Galion allowed 214 yards of offense, much of it coming late for the Presidents.

“Our d-line is just a nasty group of guys. When you got Landon Campbell and Landon Kurtzman, those two, and Linkon Tyrrell, he’s really come on. He moved from safety to d-end,”

Though Galion controlled the game from start to finish, Dick has respect for the Harding program for pushing through some tough times.

“Every week in MOAC you play somebody good. We got lucky coming off an Harding 0-3, a coach who took over in August. That’s lucky for us. They had some players out, they are battling a lot of stuff over there,” Dick explained. “Hats off to their coach, Arndt, he really picked up the prices and made the most of it. His kids played hard tonight.”

For Galion, Braxton Prosser completed 2-of-4 passes, Kent completed his only throw. Coen Fuson, Elijah Chafin, and Campbell each had one catch.

Harding’s Stokes completed 5-of-14 passes for 149 yards, as well as a touchdown and two interceptions.

Prior to the game, Galion recognized a moment of silence for senior Kooper McCabe, who recently passed away unexpectedly. It was a night where Galion recognized veterans, as well.

Next up for Galion is a matchup with Clear Fork. The Colts are 3-1, with wins over Lucas, Lexington, and River Valley.

“We’re going to go into Clear Fork, it’s fun to play in The Valley. Dave Carroll does a good job, and I’m sure it’ll be a fun night. We’re going to see how good we are,” Dick said.

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By Brandon Little

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