HOLMES TOWNSHIP — Mother Nature provided some early rain. But she left the lightning to the two teams opening the high school football season and neither Galion nor Wynford disappointed in a non-league game Thursday night.

The visiting Tigers took a 14-0 lead and appeared to have things well in hand, but the Royals used two long second-quarter touchdown passes from Ashton Warren to James Rindfuss to make it an exciting contest.

Galion prevailed 28-20 after making a couple big plays on special teams. It marked the first game between the two Crawford County schools since 2012.

“Hats off to Wynford. What a tough, physical football team and you watch their scrimmages against both Calvert and Northmor you saw that,” Tigers head coach Matt Dick said of Wynford.

“We had two tough scrimmages with Lexington and Tiffin. Some of our practices, with the rain this week, weren’t as crisp as we’d like. It made it a little harder to throw the ball tonight, but they are a physical football team. I think they’re going to be pretty good, especially in their conference.

“They took a lot of our run game away. At halftime there was no adjustment. When I watched it was just fundamentals, being gap sound, a little tighter course on the kickout and it was a different guy every time,” Dick said.

Galion senior Gabe Ivy, the second leading rusher in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, managed 111 yards rushing on 22 carries.

Royals head coach Cyle Skidmore knew his team gave it their all in defeat.

“I’m really pleased with our kids’ effort. They played hard. Galion’s a good team. We knew that coming into the game. They put guys in positions to make good plays. We just didn’t come out on the right end. We just gotta get better,” he said.

The two special teams plays proved the difference, although both came early in the game.

First a Linkon Tyrrell punt block put Galion up 14-0. Elijah Chafin returned a kickoff 70 yards later in the second quarter.

“We need to get better on special teams, for sure. We’ve just got to be more disciplined. Guys knowing where they need to be at times. That’s on the coaches. We’ve got to coach our kid up and get better for next week.”

Landon Campbell hit a 61-yard punt that pinned Wynford back at its 3-yard-line.

“Field position is crucial in these big games, these tight games. When it came to field position they got us,” Skidmore said.

Dick agreed.

“He’s a real weapon. He’s first team all-Ohio punter. He’s got to be one of the best punters in Ohio and when he booms it, it really sets our defense up for success … and our offense.”

Wynford piled up 376 yards of total offense to just 205 for Galion, which relied on those two huge special teams plays.

Wynford’s passing game has made huge strides from a year ago when the Royals were 2-8 overall and 2-5 in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and lost 5 games by a total of 26 points.

“We can throw the ball. James is a good receiver. Ashton Warren has a good arm; he makes good decisions. So, we are going to build on that, and I think our run game will get better as time goes on,” Skidmore said.

“We’re extremely proud of Ashton. As a coaching staff, as a team and as a community. The kid’s come a long way from last year.”

Warren had a solid night, passing for 138 yards and adding 101 rushing on 8 carries. He also played well at safety with several passes knocked down and one interception.

Dick said his team lacked an offensive rhythm but made up for it with defense and special teams.

“That hurt us all night long. Defensively, we played well other than two fade balls. I just think we could have been in better alignment, a little deeper to start.

“What a great night for special teams. Coach Ulmer, Coach Roston, they do a great job with special teams. We put a lot into that in practice and it showed. It maybe made the difference in the game tonight,” Dick said.

Playing on a Thursday night required some adjustments for both teams.

“It was a little strange. I thought the kids caught on pretty quick. It was fine. Lights turned on. It was 7 o’clock and we played a game,” Skidmore said.

“When our AD asked me about a Thursday game, I was like ‘Sure, we’ll make more money, let’s roll.’ But boy, did it affect a lot of things, our practices,” Dick said. “Our scrimmages probably need to be moved up a day. It was a dramatic impact, way more than I imagined.”

Bryce Locker, Kalen Skidmore, and KJ Kotalik all had tackles for loss for Wynford.

Hunter Miniard had a key pick for Galion. Campbell had several big plays on defense along with Tyrrell, who made back-to-back defensive plays to put Wynford at 3rd and 16 on the 23 with under 2 minutes to play.

“Hunter is an incredible kid. He’s a captain this year. He’s coming back stronger than ever from a big lower body injury. The ability to just play him on defense allows him to have that little extra juice.”

The Tigers finished the season at 6-5 and a first-round playoff loss at Bellevue. They host another N10 team Carey next Friday night.

“Our kids got some growing up to do. They’re sophomores and in those tight games you get a gutsy performance. Fourth down, you draw some stuff up in the dirt and have a little fun,” Dick said.

“We executed, at the brightest moment. Braxton Prosser being a leader and breaking in young guys. To make that play at the end, it says a lot about him as a leader.”

Next week the Royals host Pleasant in another non-league game.

Box score

Score by quarters

Galion           7       14          0         7   — 28

Wynford       0       14          0         6   — 20

Scoring summary

First quarter

G — Gabe Ivy 1 run (Allen Carver kick), 1:44.

Second quarter

G — Linkon Tyrrell blocks punt (Carver kick), 11:51.

W — James Rindfuss 69 pass from Ashton Warren (Hayden Langenderfer kick), 2:50.

G — Elijah Chafin 70 kickoff return (Carver kick), 2:32.

W — Rindfuss 45 pass from Warren (Langenderfer kick), :33.

Fourth quarter

W — Warren 81 run (kick failed), 10:54.

G — Landon Campbell 23 pass from Braxton Prosser (Carver kick), :55.

Individual statistics

Passing

Galion: Braxton Prosser 4-14-1 43; Wynford: Ashton Warren 4-13-1 138.

Rushing

Galion: Gabe Ivy 27-111; Wynford: Ashton Warren 8-101, Kaiden Blair 19-87, Anthony Evans 2-24, James Rindfuss 2-13, Team 3-(-23).

Receiving

Galion: Landon Campbell 1-23, Elijah Chafin 1-(-1); Wynford: James Rindfuss 2-114, Anthony Evans 2-24.

Team statistics

G                 W

First downs                11                   8

Rushing                   43-162         43-238

Passes                       4-14-1          4-13-1

Yards passing              43               138

Total yards                 205              376

Fumbles-lost              1-1               2-1

Penalties                    6-65            5-35