SHELBY — Shelby made a statement with a big win over Galion in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference action in Week 5.
It was a game of two halves and the Whippets outscored the Tigers 38-6 in the second half in the 62-26 win. At halftime, Shelby held a slim 24-20 margin.
“First half we were hot cold, hot cold,” said Galion head coach Matt Dick. “Then we came out and they got hot, we didn’t get hot enough.”
Galion (4-1, 1-1 MOAC) hit pay dirt first when Gabe Ivy took off for a 60-yard sprint, then punched it in from just a yard out shortly after. The senior running back led the Tigers with 107 rushing yards on 14 carries.
Shelby (4-1, 2-0) wasted no time to take a 7-6 lead when Whippets’ quarterback Brayden DeVito found Casey Lantz in the corner of the end zone from 10 yards out.
The Whippets outgained the Tigers in total yardage by a 632-239 difference. Shelby was 8-of-11 on third downs and Galion was just 1-of-9.
The scoring picked up in the second half when Lantz hit a chip shot from 20 yards out to make it 10-6.
Galion had a quick answer less than a minute later. Jacob Chambers took an end-around and showed off his track speed up the sideline from 49 yards out. The wide receiver carried it three times for 57 yards to add a wrinkle to the Galion offense.
Skyler Winters scored two of his five touchdowns for Shelby on the ground within the next two scores. Winters crossed the goal line from six then four yards out to make it 24-13.
On a fourth down play just before the half, Tigers’ quarterback Braxton Prosser found Landon Campbell on a screen and the senior rumbled in from 21 yards with 34 seconds until half.
Halftime was the changing point and Shelby came out and scored three times in the third quarter to take control of the game. A couple of minutes into the quarter, Winters found the end zone from 13 yards. Five minutes of game time later, Lantz made his second field goal, this time from 25 yards out. Winters made it a 17-0 quarter with a short touchdown run to make it 41-20 heading into the fourth quarter.
Shelby opened the fourth quarter with a trick play that would result in DeVito taking a screenplay 60 yards to the house. Missed tackles burned Galion a lot of the night.
“How many times did a kid have a chance to make that tackle? It’s probably three or four times, to be honest. But on the flip side, that’s that kid being a pretty special athlete. If you watch the film for the first couple of weeks, you’re going to see that kid make a lot of special plays,” Dick said giving credit to the sophomore DeVito.
DeVito’s ability to extend plays and take off when he needed to were big weaknesses for Galion that made a lot happen.
“We knew that kid was a great runner and a great passer and had great receivers,” explained Dick. “That shows up on film and when you see them score over 30 points on Bellevue, we knew we were going to have our hands full with those guys.”
The Whippets made it 55-20 just a couple of minutes later on a 10-yard touchdown reception by Nic Eyster.
With 7:46 remaining in the game, Galion scored their first touchdown of the second half on a 22-yard scamper by Ivy.
The bleeding wasn’t over, however, as Winters broke off his fifth touchdown on a 60-yard carry with just over five minutes left.
Ayden Schmidt and Elijah Chafin had interceptions for the Tigers, who also gave up the ball twice on fumbles.
Prosser completed two passes for 34 yards and a score and added 45 yards rushing.
Galion still has aspirations of winning the league and reaching the playoffs. While it’s still possible the Tigers can win the league, they’ll need both Shelby and Ontario (5-0, 2-0 MOAC) to lose a game down the stretch.
“The good news in the MOAC is that every week is a challenge,” Dick said. “The goal is still the same, to go 1-0. This year they got one up on us. Good news, we are in the same region. Who knows? Maybe we match up again.”
Next week, the Tigers will travel to Ontario to take on the undefeated Warriors, who thumped Clear Fork 45-0 Friday night.
Shelby will host Highland (4-1, 1-1 MOAC) in Week 6.