GALION — Galion (4-3, 3-1) has now won four of their last five games after a 46-36 win over Ontario in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference action. The Tigers were able to hold on after a second-half shootout of offense.
“The whole goal of this week is to focus, to be razor sharp with our focus. Our kids did that,” Galion’s Matt Dick said following the win.
A career night for quarterback Braxton Prosser was the difference in this matchup. The sophomore threw for three scores while adding two more on the ground thanks to 134 rushing yards. Prosser, who is also a standout on the baseball diamond, was 9-of-12 passing for 178 yards.
“He’s (Prosser) only a sophomore and he keeps getting better and better,” Dick spoke of his young quarterback.
Workhorse lead back Gabe Ivy was the first to find the end zone on a two-yard carry to give Galion the early lead that they would not give up. Ivy would have 119 rushing yards in week 7 action.
Ontario was able to take it up on a Drew Yetter run after working their way down the field.
The Tigers drew up a great play on fourth down with just over two minutes left in half to regain the lead. Junior Logan Shifley took a reverse end-around and went up the sideline for an 18-yard score.
Galion recovered two fumbles in the first half, by the way of Landon Campbell and Houston Frank. Carson Frankhouse forced a fumble on Ontario quarterback Bodpegn Miller.
Wasting no time the Tigers scored on the next play. Prosser found Elijah Chafin for a 32-yard touchdown reception. Chafin made a pair of defenders miss before finding the end zone. The junior caught seven passes for 132 yards.
“Elijah Chafin came over from Mount Gilead, and it takes a while to learn our offense,” Dick explained. “I feel like with two-a-days changing it takes a while to get all the wrinkles in I want. Last week I thought wow, there’s some things we can do.”
Ontario came out of halftime and put together a scoring drive, just as they needed to. Miller found Dylan Floyd for a 37-yard touchdown reception just two minutes into the half.
It did not take the Tigers long to answer. Prosser found Chafin on a slant and the wide receiver did the rest from 44-yards for the score to make it 26-14. The back-and-forth fourth quarter continued as Chase Studer capped off a 65-yard drive with a tough three-yard carry.
Early in the fourth, Prosser continued his career night with a 36-yard keeper to give the Tigers a 32-21 lead. Miller and the Warriors again had an answer for the Tigers. Braxton Hall caught a 30-yard pass to bring the game back within a possession.
At the 4:57 mark in the fourth quarter, Galion continued their offensive onslaught. Prosser found a wide-open Ivy who crossed the end zone on the 48-yard catch-and-run.
Miller tossed a short touchdown to Treyven King after a very gutsy drive. The Ontario quarterback took back-to-back big hits but found a way to deliver.
As he did all night, Prosser hurt the Warriors one last time. The Galion quarterback shook off a couple of tacklers and ran 37-yards for the nail in the coffin.
Galion put together 63 offensive plays into 499 total yards. Ontario had 347 yards of total offense, Miller was responsible for 253 of those yards.
“I thought we executed offensively in the second half. We kind of had to throw it around to keep up,” Ontario’s Aaron Eckert said.
Galion is set to travel to Highland next week, in what will be a big MOAC showdown. The Scots are 5-2 following a 44-20 win against Shelby.
