BELLVILLE — The first quarter couldn’t have gone any better for Galion or any worse for Clear Fork.
The Tigers scored touchdowns on special teams, defense and offense in the opening 12 minutes and cruised to a 41-21 win over the Colts in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference opener at the Colt Corral.
“It was pretty special,” Galion coach Matt Dick said. “We changed some things on special teams but when you have special players, they make you look smart.”
Galion’s first touchdown came courtesy of a Zach Sallee blocked punt on Clear Fork’s opening possession. Sallee came off the edge and got a mitt on the ball, which bounded into Camden Kuehlman’s waiting arms at the Clear Fork 6-yard line. Kuehlman dashed into the end zone and Allen Carver’s PAT gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead with 9:54 remaining in the first quarter.
Clear Fork moved the ball to midfield on its next possession, but freshman defensive back Kurt Hay jumped a screen pass intended for Jay Jackson and returned it 47 yards for a touchdown with 6:23 to play in the opening quarter. It was Hay’s third interception of the season and first career touchdown.
Clear Fork’s next possession resulted in a second blocked punt when Sallee drove one of the Colts’ up-men into Jackson’s attempt. The Tigers took possession at the Clear Fork 7-yard line, and Galion quarterback Braxton Prosser capped the abbreviated drive with a 6-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-goal.
Disaster struck again on Clear Fork’s next possession when a high punt snap sailed over Jackson’s head. Jackson collected the ball but was swarmed on his own 11 . On the very next play, Prosser hooked up with Jacob Chambers on an 11-yard scoring strike.
When the dust settled, Galion owned a 27-0 lead after the opening quarter.
“It was a situation where things started to snowball on us,” Clear Fork coach Aaron Brokaw said. “You can’t afford to spot a good team seven points let alone 27 points.
“It’s hard to dig yourself out of a hole like that.”
Making matters worse, Clear Fork lost quarterback Marcus Hoeflich midway through the second quarter on a hard hit that resulted in a Galion personal foul.
Mason Sansom took over for Hoeflich and led the Colts on a long scoring drive capped by Sansom’s 3-yard TD run with 2:58 to play in the opening half.
“The second quarter got ugly,” Dick said. “I told our kids we may only be one score better than Clear Fork. We just had a really explosive start.”
The Tigers (4-0, 1-0) led 27-7 at the half, but the Colts (1-3, 0-1) made things interesting in the third.
Trey Sellers picked off a pass at the Galion 7 with 5:02 to play in the period and Sansom’s 8-yard TD run made it 27-14 with 4:24 remaining.
That’s as close as the Colts would get, however, as Prosser scored on an 18-yard run with 1:50 to play in the third to make it 34-14.
Clear Fork fumbled away the ensuing kickoff and Prosser tossed a 5-yard TD pass to junior tight end Cohen Adams on the first play of the fourth quarter to seal it.
Clear Fork added a late score on Porter Schmidt’s 5-yard run to make it 41-21.
“The energy and the effort was there, but we’ve got to tighten up the details,” Brokaw said. “The details are the difference in a football game.”
Prosser accounted for four touchdowns for the Tigers, rushing for two and throwing a pair.
Sansom ran for 99 yards and two TDs for Clear Fork. Nick Appleman added 8 yards on 20 carries, while Schmidt added 50 yards and a score on 11 carries.
