Clear Fork vs Galion Highlights Jake Furr, Mansfield News Journal


BELLVILLE - It was a first half legends are created about.

But it was a second half that was a little more like Clear Fork football. The Colts overcame giving up 35 first-half points to hold the Galion Tigers scoreless over the final two quarters to take a 69-35 homecoming win on Friday night in the Valley.

The two teams battled to a 45-minute first quarter which saw six touchdowns. There was more of the same in the second quarter with six more scores as the Colts took a 49-35 lead into the locker room. The Colts held the Tigers scoreless the rest of the way to lay claim to the win, yet, it still wasn't the craziest game Clear Fork head coach Dave Carroll had been apart of.

"We had a game a while back when we played Fredericktown and lost 69-49," Carroll said. "That was similar nonsense."

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The Tigers won the toss and elected to receive, hoping to strike early and possibly grab the momentum. They succeeded when Elias Middleton ran for a 10-yard touchdown to start the game. Less than a minute later, Clear Fork's Jared Schaefer found Jay Swainhart for a 14-yard touchdown and with 8:12 left in the first and the score tied at seven, the shootout was on.

Schaefer later found AJ Blubaugh for a 17-yard touchdown pass while Brady Tedrow added an 8-yard run and Trevon Trammell added a 26-yard run to round out the first-half scoring for Clear Fork. Middleton found Isaiah Alsip for a 65-yard touchdown pass as Galion trailed 28-14 after the opening quarter.

"(Galion coach) Matt (Dick) did a great job coming up with formations we had never seen on film," Carroll said. "They did some things with their motion that got us out of what we do. They put us in a bad way. They had never run the speed option ever before tonight. He prepared his team well."

The scoring didn't stop in the second quarter as Trammell added a 5-yard scoring run, Brennan South found Caden Flynn for a 72-yard touchdown pass and Zach Homerick plowed in a 3-yard run for the Colts.

Middleton and Alsip hooked up two more times for touchdowns, one on a 6-yard pass and the other on a 60-yard bomb. Gavin Pennington ended the first half returning an interception on a screen pass five yards for the Galion score as the Tigers seemed to have the Colts on the ropes. Clear Fork held on to a 49-35 lead heading into the locker room.

"They put seven guys in the box and play man on the outside," Dick said. "There are things you can do to that defense. They rely on their athletes to shut your offense down and it works for the most part but if you can max protect or attack their best player with the option, you can execute well."

It took a half of football, but the Colts figured out a defensive game plan that would work against the Tigers offense. The Colts held the Tigers scoreless in the second half while Trammell added his third touchdown run of the night with a 2-yard plunge, Schaefer scored on a 21-yard scamper and Homerick added an 8-yard run for the Colts' three scores of the second half.

The Colts gave up just one big play in the fourth quarter on a Galion fake punt.

"The defense they run, it is almost like you either hit for a big play or get tackled for a loss," Dick said. "That is how they run it with a ton of pressure. If you can get those one-on-one matchups that you can win, you can take advantage."

"We got on them a bit about playing harder and getting more pressure on the quarterback," Carroll said. "It wasn't a huge newsflash, they were going to throw the ball to No. 2 (Alsip) down the middle."

Carroll admits his brother and Clear Fork defensive coordinator, Mike Carroll, didn't have to get loud with his defensive unit during halftime.

"He didn't get mad," Carroll said. "We are more likely to get mad when we are doing well so we do not gloat. We just settled them down, made a couple adjustments, made sure we were lined up right and got back to what we do best."

Clear Fork finished with 616 yards of total offense throwing for 228 and running for 388. Trammell ran for 218 yards on 19 carries with three touchdowns while Schaefer ran for 85 yards and a score. Homerick ran for 49 yards and two scores. South completed just eight passes but threw for 205 yards and a touchdown while Schaefer completed two passes for 31 yards and a score. Flynn caught four balls for 149 yards and a touchdown.

The Colts improved to 7-0 on the season and 4-0 in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference. After a Marion Pleasant loss on Friday night, the Colts find themselves all alone in first place. They travel to Ontario in Week 8.

Middleton finished 12-for-27 passing for 250 yards and three touchdowns while running for 51 more yards and a score. Alsip hauled in eight passes for 197 yards and three touchdowns while running for 39 yards on three carries. The Tigers finished with 373 yards of total offense.

The Tigers fell to 3-4 on the season and 1-3 in the MOAC. They host North Union in Week 8.

"I have talked all year about taking that next step and playing great teams like Clear Fork well," Dick said. "We played well against them until we came out in the third and just didn't hang."


Twitter: @JakeFurr11