GALION — The first two times they touched the ball, the Galion Tigers moved right down the field and scored touchdowns.

From that point, however, 11 Galion possessions could get just three points.

Penalties and four Ottawa-Glandorf interceptions doomed the Tigers in a 28-17 loss in the first round of the Division IV, Region 14 playoffs Saturday night.

With the win, the sixth-seeded Titans (8-3) advance to the second round. Third-seeded Galion finished the season at 8-3 and dropped their final two games of the season.

Since the Tigers won the 1985 state championship, they are 0-8 in the playoffs.

Galion coach Matt Dick said his team is close to breaking the winless drought.

“The whole year we have been right there,” Dick said. “For some reason, we couldn’t get over the hump enough. We just have to take that next step. I think our defense is much-improved.”

Early in the game, the Tigers appeared to move the football at will, gaining more than 130 yards in scoring their two touchdowns. Quarterback Wilson Frankhouse hit wide receiver Isaiah Alsip for 12 yards out to tie the game at 7-7, then hit Alsip on a 59-yard scoring toss moments later to take a 14-7 lead.

The Titans tied the game midway through the second quarter on a 17-yard Eric Heebsh dash, but the Tigers took the lead right before the end of the half on a 30-yard Dominc Pittman field goal and led 17-14 at the break.

O-G coach Ken Schriner said defensive adjustments were the difference.

“My defensive coordinator, I don’t even know what he does, he does a fantastic job,” Schriner said. “I think we started rolling to (Alsip) and kind of took him out in the second half and I think injuries were big on their part as well.”

The Tigers lost running back Trevor O’Brien early in the game, forcing Dick to move receivers around.

“Trevor O’Brien is a huge part of our offense,” Dick said. “He does a lot of things behind the scenes. He played quarterback as a freshman and he played running back as a sophomore and he basically knows the whole offense. Losing him was a real huge issue offensively.”

The Tigers outgained the Titans, 352-237, for the game, but three interceptions in the second half doomed them.

Jacob Balbaugh scored from a yard out in the third period to give the Titans the lead.

As the game moved into the fourth quarter, Frankhouse went deep down the right side of the field. But the Galion receiver fell down and O-G defensive back Caleb Kuhlman picked off the pass and raced 80 yards for the final score of the game.

“You have to give them credit for some of the schemes,” Dick said. “They jammed our receivers and made some of those routes a little shorter and lead to some interceptions.

“Ultimately, we have to make more plays. We had a receiver fall down for a pic-six. We had some things open, we just didn’t execute tonight. There are some real good things to learn from.”

Frankhouse rushed for 112 yards in 23 carries for the Tigers and hit 16 of 24 passes for 178 yards. But his three picks that hurt.

“These last two weeks the ball has not bounced our way,” Dick said. “Whether it was a penalty here or a play there, even in that fourth and one, we were in the wrong personnel group and that’s on us as coaches and me as a head coach. It just didn’t click.”

Division IV, Region 14

At Galion’s Heise Park

Galion                               14         3       0       0 — 17
Ottawa-Glandorf                 7         7       7       7 — 28

SCORING

OG — Eric Heebsh 8 run (Ethan Alt kick), 8:38 (1)

G — Isaiah Alsip 12 pass from Wilson Frankhouse (Dominic Pittman kick), 4:58 (1)

G — Alsip 59 pass from Frankhouse (Pittman kick), 2:22 (1)

OG — Heebsh 17 run (Alt kick), 8:22 (2)

G — Pittman 30 FG, :56 (2)

OG — Jacob Balbaugh 1 run (Alt kick), 2:11 (3)

OG — Caleb Kuhlman 80 interception return (Alt kick), 6:46 (4)

TEAM STATISTICS

Galion               O-G

Offensive plays               64                       47

First downs                       15                        13

Rushes-yards                       38-157               30-120

Passing yards               195                       117

Total yards                       352                       237

Passes                               16-26-4               11-17-1

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Galion — Wilson Frankhouse 23-112, Trevor O’Brien 3-10, Isaiah Alsip 4-8, Hanif Donaldson 3-21, Hayden       Eckels 5-6. Ottawa-Glandorf — Clayton Recker 6-13, Jacob Balbaugh 8-3, Eric Heebsh 15-96, Shawn Beverly 1-2.

PASSING: Galion — Frankhouse 14-24-178-3, Alsip 1-2-17-1. Ottawa-Glandorf — Balbaugh 11-17-117-1.

RECEIVING: Galion — Alsip 7-107, Jackson Staton 4-57, Donaldson 3-18, Eckels 1-26, Frankhouse 1-17. Ottawa-Glandorf — Brennan Blevens 1-34, Jarrod Beach 4-36, Will Kaufman 4-21, Kuhlman 1-7, Tyler Cantrell 1-18.