GALION — In a game where the scoring was going back and forth in the second half, Galion was not about to let Ontario back in the game.
The Tigers took advantage of two key fumbles in the first half to take a 20-7 lead at the break then watched as the Warriors cut the lead to three in the fourth period.
But Galion got two key scores in the final five minutes of the game and held off Ontario, 46-36.
With the win, the Tigers improved to 3-1 in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, 4-3 overall, while the Warriors fell to 0-4 in the league, 3-4 overall.
It was a game where the two teams combined for 55 points and 489 total yards in the final two periods. But when the Tigers needed a score to keep the Warriors from getting the ball with a chance to win the game, they got it.
“We had to make some clutch calls and we were lucky enough that we completed them,” Galion coach Matthew Dick said. “If we don’t execute a couple of those little wrinkles then I would look dumb. We have some special kids and those guys put it together.”
Ontario coach Aaron Eckert agreed with that assessment.
“We executed offensively in the second half as we kinda had to throw it around to keep up and try to get the ball back and try to get a stop,” Eckert said. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to do that.”
After the Tigers opened the scoring in the second quarter when Gabe Ivy scored on a one-yard run, the Warriors evened the score moments later when Drew Yetter scored on a one-yard run, tying the game at 7-7.
Galion came back and got a beautiful reverse from Logan Shifley, who scored from 18 yards out.
Ontario then lost a fumble on their own 32, and it took the Tigers just one play to cash in. Quarterback Braxton Prosser hit Elijah Chafin for 32 yards as the Tigers held a 13-point lead at the half.
“Offensively, in the first half, we had five drives and a couple of three-and-outs, then we shot ourselves in the foot,” Eckert said.
“I said all week (Ontario is) a smash-mouth football team and we try to be that and they’re going to stop us sometimes,” Dick said. “When Gabe gets going anything that Prosser runs gets 1,000 times better. The same with the pop passes, the gambles, the little outlets to (Carson) Frankhouse. When it was there and we made good calls, our kids executed.”
Then, the fireworks started.
Ontario got the football first in the second half and cut the lead to six when quarterback Bodpegn Miller hit Dylan Floyd from 37 yards out.
Galion responded quickly, as Ivy, who rushed for 123 yards on 22 carries, and Prosser, who finished with 101 yards on 14 totes, led the way.
Prosser found Chafin for a 44-yard score, as the Tigers grabbed a 26-14 lead.
Ontario running back Chase Studer scored from three yards out as the Warriors cut the Galion lead to 26-21 after three quarters.
“There were times I thought they did a nice job of over shifting and we had to go the other way,” Dick said. “We were a little slow there.
“The whole goal this week was to focus, to be razor-sharp with our focus and our kids did that and came out and executed pretty well on offense,” he added. “On defense, I’m sure we got sloppy, I’m sure there are some things we need to coach up.”
Prosser raced 36 yards for a score to open the fourth quarter and Galion led 32-21.
Miller found Braxton Hall from 30 yards out midway through the fourth, and the Warriors cut the lead to 32-28. At this point, it was anyone’s game.
The Tigers weren’t going to permit a comeback, however. Ivy was wide open on a wheel route and scored on a 48-yard pass to increase the lead to 39-28.
Still, Ontario cut the lead to three, 39-36, when Miller connected with Braxton King from 14 yards out with 2:29 left in the game.
But Prosser ended the game a minute later with a 37-yard scoring run.
“I thought we had an opportunity to move the football against them with what they do; they are so aggressive defensively,” Eckert said. “They do a nice job over there but in the second half, we were kinda flowing. We just couldn’t get it back to where we got the ball last in order to take advantage of that.”
Dick said that, with young skilled position players, it can take time to get everyone on the same page.
“It takes a while to get all the wrinkles in that I want,” Dick said. “It’s like, wow, there are things we can do, and it gets fun to call an offense. There are a lot of guys getting really, really comfortable with it, and there are things that are starting to look good in practice, and when they look good in practice, you know they are going to look good on Friday night.”
Prosser had a huge night throwing the ball, hitting 11 of 15 passes for 204 yards and three scores, while adding two more scores on the ground.
Ontario’s Miller also played very well in the second half, hitting 12 of 19 passes for 194 yards and three touchdowns.
“It’s a credit to him,” Eckert said of his quarterback. “As a sophomore, sometimes he makes sophomore mistakes and, in the first half, he just made a few mistakes you can’t really make as a quarterback. You can’t give a football team, playing well, extra opportunities.”
Box score
Scoring summary
Second quarter
G — Gabe Ivy 1 run (Jackson Hart kick), 10:23.
O — Drew Yetter 1 run (Trey Booker kick), 4:59.
G — Logan Shifley 18 run (Hart kick).
G — Elijah Chafin 32 pass from Braxton Prosser (pass failed), 2:27.
Third quarter
O — Dylan Ford 37 pass from Bodpegn Miller (Booker kick), 10:05.
G — Chafin 44 pass from Prosser (run failed), 5:47.
O — Chase Studer 3 run (Booker kick), 2:24.
Fourth quarter
G — Prosser 36 run (pass failed), 11:07.
O — Braxton Hall 30 pass from Miller (Booker kick), 8:52.
G — Ivy 48 pass from Prosser (Hart kick), 4:57.
O — Trey King 14 pass from Miller (King pass from Miller), 2:29.
G — Prosser 37 run (Hart kick), 1:31.
Individual statistics
Passing
Ontario: Bodpegn Miller 12-19-0 194; Galion: Braxton Prosser 11-15-0 204, Cooper Kent 2-3-o 21.
Rushing
Ontario: Drew Yetter 11-83, Bodpegn Miller 9-53, Chase Studer 4-24, Eli Stankovich 1-(-1); Galion: Gabe Ivy 22-123, Braxton Prosser 14-101, Logan Shifley 4-24, Carson Frankhouse 2-3.
Receiving
Ontario: Dylan Floyd 5-79, Drew Yetter 1-30, Trey King 2-38, Quinton Frankhouse 1-4, Braxton Hall 3-53; Galion: Elijah Chafin 7-133, Gabe Ivy 2-62, Landon Campbell 2-25, Coen Fuson 1-3, Braxton Prosser 1-1.
Team statistics
O G
First downs 13 16
Rushing 25-156 42-253
Passes 12-19-0 12-18-0
Yards passing 194 225
Total yards 350 478
Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-3
Punts 2-36.0 2-39.5
Penalties 8-50 8-50