CAREY (Crawford County Now) — Toughness was the difference between Galion’s opening loss and its hard-fought 21-17 win over Carey here Friday night, according to head coach Matt Dick.

Galion (1-1) fell behind 14-0 to the Blue Devils. And despite allowing 354 rushing yards, it used a late goal-line stand to get the win.

“That’s a big stop for a young team. We’ve got a lot of stuff to clean up. One thing we got better on this week was we got a little tougher, and I think you saw that in the second half,” Dick said.

“We had a great week of practice when it came to being physically violent. Our kids really came out in the second half, after they got regrouped, and really started hitting people and I think that made a big difference.”

Both teams came in off lopsided road losses to highly regarded opponents. The Blue Devils fell to powerhouse Marion Local 34-7, while the Tigers dropped a 36-12 contest to St. Mary’s Memorial.

Carey (0-2) started off with its ground attack, a version of Thunder and Lightning, with 210-pound Mace Puckett running inside and quarterback Tripp Phoenix darting outside.

Phoenix raced 88 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown six minutes into the contest. Puckett ran for 160 yards and Phoenix for 152 yards.

The teams kept it close until Carey capped a 7-play drive when Puckett blasted in from 4 yards out with 3:31 in the first half.

The Tigers answered when senior defensive end Dominic Capretta stepped in front of a Phoenix pass and returned it untouched 43 yards for a touchdown.

“We were on the fringe of being blown out in the first half, if we’re being honest. But our kids kept fighting. Dom made a huge interception. I’m sure his technique was probably wrong on that play, but sometimes kids just make plays,” Dick said.

“I love playing St. Mary’s and Carey because they’re physical football teams. The MOAC is a physical league, but getting those two right off the rip makes you tougher, especially the O-line and D-line.”

The two teams traded possessions in the third quarter. On the Tigers’ second series Kane Hay found Jamesen Glew in the end zone for an 18-yard, game-tying touchdown.

Freshman Lane Baldridge fell on a Galion fumble after a Puckett strip to stop a Galion drive at the Blue Devil’s 46-yard line.

Benson Kloepfer split the uprights on a 32-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter giving the hosts a 17-14 lead with 6:02 remaining. That came after a Logan Summit interception and a 56-yard run by Puckett put the ball at the Galion 18.

Then it was crunch time for the visitors.

Galion capped a 10-play drive with a 3-yard Hay run. It was set up by 52-yard pass from Hay to sophomore wideout Blake Chelski on second and 21 from their 26-yard line.

An ensuing stop inside the 5-yard line with under a minute to play sealed the win.

“The focus this week is to go back to work and clean up our mistakes,” said Carey head coach Jonathon Mershman. “We need to get ready for league. It’s not like we’ve not been here before at 0-2. I’m getting tired of it, but I need to do some soul searching on my end and figure this out.”

Last season the Blue Devils began at 0-2 and went on to play in the regional semifinal and finished tied for first in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

“We need to erase this and start over,” Mershman said.

“We didn’t make plays and get off the field. We will watch film and see why we’re giving up big yards for first downs. We made big plays and just didn’t finish drives and get in the end zone enough.”

The Blue Devils visit Lucas Friday night.

Dick said he’s hopeful his team can build on the win.

“We’re a young team and we have got a lot to work on to get better. Two solid, tough opponents and we have Bishop Ready next week. Hopefully, we can carry that toughness over into the MOAC,” he said.

“That was a priority this week. Linemen with their gaps, executing better routes, defense knowing who’s got contain … a lot of stuff to improve on.”

Kane Hay moved into the starting quarterback role after being a running back last season.

“It’s hard for a new QB when he sees hot and cold pass blocking. Some plays he’s got 10 seconds and other plays he’s got one second. He made some bad reads, but his gut … and in the fourth quarter he’s the guy running the ball and getting a first down. He’s tough as nails, all heart and other kids want to follow,” Dick said.

“We always say, we just want the ball in the fourth quarter with a chance to win.”

The Tigers accomplished that to even their record.

Box score

Score by quarters

Galion   0   7   7   7 — 21

Carey     7   7   0   3 — 17

Scoring summary

First quarter

C — Tripp Phoenix 88 run (Benson Kloepfer kick), 6:08.

Second quarter

C — Mace Puckett 4 run (Kloepfer kick), 3:31.

G — Dominic Capretta 43 interception return (Caden Dick kick), :59.

Third quarter

G — Jamesen Glew 18 pass from Kane Hay (Dick kick), 5:00.

Fourth quarter

C — Kloepfer 32 field goal, 6:02.

G — Kane Hay 3 run (Caden Dick kick), 1:40.

Individual statistics

Passing

Galion: Kane Hay 9-17-1 196. Carey: Tripp Phoenix 3-7-1-23.

Rushing

Galion: Kane Hay 18-32, Kyle Early 13-72, Ian Sumpter 1-2. Carey: Tripp Phoenix 16-152, Logan Summit 9-35, Bekkem Sherman 2-7, Mace Puckett 27-160.

Receiving

Galion: Jamesen Glew 3-58, Kurt Hay 4-66, Blake Chelski 1-52. Dominic Capretta 1-20. Carey: Lincoln Ritter 1-2, Bekkem Sherman 1-13, Logan Summit 1-8.

Team statistics

G                C

First downs                   11                 9

Rushing                     32-106         54-354

Passes                         9-17-1           3-7-1

Yards passing             196                23

Total yards                  302              377

Fumbles-lost               2-2              4-2

Penalties                    6-60              3-35

Punts                           5-32.8        0-00.0