GALION — Brayden DeVito is quite capable of throwing the football. He isn’t too bad at running it, either, as his 436-yard output showed.
The Shelby junior quarterback completed 17-of-22 passes for 311 yards and three touchdowns in a convincing 35-6 win over Galion in a big Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game Friday night.
The current MOAC and former Northern Ohio League rivals came in ranked third and sixth, respectively, in Division IV, Region 14 in the first OHSAA computer poll. But the two teams were light years apart as the Whippets jumped on top 14-0 in the first quarter.
DeVito ran in another touchdown from 11 yards out and rushed 19 times for 125 yards.
The tone was set early when a fake punt attempt by Galion on a fourth and three at the Shelby 42 misfired.
“They got off to that fast start off that. We went for a wedge up the middle but fumbled the ball and were right at the line. It would have been a heck of a measure, but sometimes the ball is not going to bounce your way,” Tigers head coach Matt Dick said. “We’re going to be aggressive and take shots. But the DeVito kid is amazing to watch, isn’t he? He’s worth the price of admission.”
The Whippets bread and butter is to spread the defense out. When they did, DeVito found eight receivers open against Galion defenders.
“It’s hard to defend. It really is. We were down a linebacker tonight and some of the adjustments we made … but a lot of it was just a one-on-one play and that’s how their offense works.”
Galion slips to 4-1, 1-1, while Shelby stays unbeaten at 5-0, 2-0.
Defensive back Brock Fisher picked off the first of his two interceptions to set up Shelby’s second scoring drive.
The Whippets went 80 yards quickly on just four plays in 27 seconds. It was set up by passes of 27 yards to Brady Bowman and 26 yards to Avery Lambert, with Marcus Gumbert finding paydirt to give Shelby a 20-0 halftime lead.
Whippets head coach Rob Mahaney said his team was ready to play in front of an overflow crowd at Unckrich Stadium.
“I thought our guys were extremely motivated this week. To come out and have this opportunity with a challenge in front of them with a rivalry game … I could feel where our team’s headspace was. I think they had something to prove tonight,” he said.
To hold Galion’s offense in check was noteworthy. The Tigers managed just 214 total yards.
“We played really well and physical. On defense, we played awesome. Offensively, we made plays when we had to.”
Sometimes scrambling out of the pocket, DeVito found open receivers in the Galion zone, throwing for 193 yards in the first half.
“Brayden made a big play for us early. Nic (Eyster) was awesome for us coming back from an injury. He made some really good plays and extending plays,” Mahaney said.
“Let’s be honest. Brayden DeVito is a dog. He’s a really good football player. When you challenge him, this is what you see.”
Galion’s only touchdown came when Braxton Prosser found Landyn Prosser from eight yards out with just 4:26 remaining in the game.
“They put you in a position that probably no one else we play does. Maybe River Valley could or maybe Pleasant down the road,” Dick said.
“That’s a good Shelby team and I just felt like we were fighting momentum, and not punching it in a couple of times when we got down there. Those things all add up and there’s a lot to learn from it.”
Kaden Price scored the last Shelby touchdown on a 38-yard reception from DeVito in the fourth quarter.
“Our front seven did a really good job up front of controlling the game. Brayden Schartiger does a phenomenal job inside. Karsen Homan on the outside. Hunter Oney and Kyler Williams all flying around and making plays,” Mahaney said.
Williams recovered the Galion fumble.
“I thought it looked like right away we got to the quarterback and started making him throw off platform. We wanted to come out and prove who we are as a football team.”
Dick credited Shelby’s skill players.
“The Bowman kid, what a special athlete he is. He’s got a gear and at some point, they’re just running away from our dudes. At the same time when DeVito is dancing around for five minutes and then throws a deep ball, I wouldn’t be surprised that kids are open. Certain plays were D-line not getting pressure and certain plays were DBs slipped or fell down. But their receivers were impressive.”
He also alluded to the strength of the league.
“In the MOAC, there’s a good chance they have one loss by the end of the year. That’s kind of been a thing that’s happened over the last couple of years,” Dick said.
One of those teams is Ontario. The Warriors (5-0, 2-0) visit Galion next Friday night after a 31-14 win over Clear Fork.
“We need to get healthy, watch film and then come up with a new game plan to stop a completely different team in Ontario with a very, very special quarterback.”
Trevor Shifley had seven tackles, with two solo, for Galion. Sam Evans, Jacob Chambers and Zack Sallee each had a tackle for loss. Camden Kuehlman recovered a fumble for the Tigers.
Box score
Score by quarters
Shelby 14 6 8 7 — 35
Galion 0 0 0 6 — 6
Scoring summary
First quarter
S — Brady Bowman 46 pass from Brayden DeVito (kick failed), 8:25.
S — Marcus Gumbert 5 run (Kaden Price pass from DeVito), 5:41.
Second quarter
S — Nic Eyster 7 pass from DeVito (run failed), :59.
Third quarter
S — DeVito 11 run (Michael Shepherd pass from DeVito), 2:42.
Fourth quarter
S — Price 38 pass from DeVito (Kaleb Stairs kick), 9:56.
G — Landyn Prosser 8 pass from Braxton Prosser (kick failed), 4:26.
Individual statistics
Passing
Shelby: Brayden DeVito 17-22-0 311; Galion: Braxton Prosser 12-22-2 123.
Rushing
Shelby: Brayden DeVito 19-125, Karsen Homan 1-3, Marcus Gumbert 6-(-7); Galion: Braxton Stuckman 5-42, Braxton Prosser 14-31, Camden Kuhlman 3-18, Sam Evans 3-0.
Receiving
Shelby: Brady Bowman 5-107, Nic Eyster 2-53, Michael Shepherd 1-38, Avery Lambert 2-38, Kaden Price 2-26, Marcus Gumbert 3-14, Karsen Homan 1-10, Brock Fisher 1-8; Galion: Allen Carver 4-67, Jacob Chambers 3-27, Landyn Prosser 4-22, Ayden Schmidt 1-7.
Team statistics
S G
First downs 19 12
Rushing 26-148 19-91
Passes 17-22-0 12-22-2
Yards passing 311 123
Total yards 459 214
Fumbles-lost 1-1 3-1
Penalties 10-79 7-64