Tough Tigers: Defense shines in Galion's gutsy football win at Carey

CAREY ― Defense may not have won the Galion football team a championship in Week 2, but it did help the Tigers take down back-to-back-to-back Northern 10 champion and 2021 state champ Carey.

"This is a hard place to play," Galion coach Matt Dick said. "It's a scary environment, and I love it."

Just as they did last year in a thriller , the Tigers leaned on their defense when the offense sputtered against a stifling Carey front seven. This time it led to a 14-8 win behind a couple of big plays from Sam Evans.

The first was a 48-yard run just shy of the goal line followed by a 1-yard touchdown in the second quarter. The eventual game-winning touchdown was a 23-yard lob from Braxton Prosser that saw Evans fully lay out to make the catch in the end zone.

"Our kids just found a way to get it done," Dick said.

It was up to the defense to preserve the lead.

"I've been all over this D-line about getting tougher and getting grittier," Dick said. "They are not big, I think our nose guard is like 140 pounds. And playing against Carey's line, for them to just have a lot of success in there (was big). Camden Kuehlman, Kale Early, even freshman Kane Hay … these kids love to play on the edge."

Slowing the Carey offense is typically easier said than done thanks to its bruising backs, led by 6-foot-1, 240-pound Eli Steen.

"He is a bear," Dick said. "We were scared he would (get loose), but in the first half our defense was fired up. We got a little stiff in the second half, but we found a way to get it done at the end."

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With 10:01 on the clock, Carey found the end zone via a Mace Puckett rush and punched in the two-point conversion. On the ensuing Blue Devils possessions, however, the Galion defensive line wreaked havoc and its defensive backs issued a no-fly zone over the middle.

"We got three guys in Chambers, Carver, and Schmidt that have all played there for a ton of games," Dick said of his secondary. "We've weathered the storm with either not making a play or just being young and making mistakes, and now those three guys are really awesome. And Trey Longwell, Kurt Hay comes in, sometimes Kane Hay, even (Colton) Flynn — there's some nice depth in our secondary."

Longwell picked off Kyler Boes with 1:21 remaining and allowed the Tigers to run the clock out.

"We could have been way more explosive," Dick said. "I know my line coach wasn't happy with the run blocking. But I they were the best physical defense we've seen … and I think they helped us get ready for MOAC because we'll see one like that every week."

Carey's defense kept the Blue Devils in the game. Special teams made some big plays, too, it was the offense that struggled for most of the night.

"Eight points ain't gonna cut it," Carey coach Jonathon Mershman said. "Our defense played well enough to win the game, and special teams played really well, we just turned over the ball and had holding penalties. We're not a team that can overcome a 10-yard holding penalty, and that showed up a couple times."

Both teams are young with a lot of new faces in key positions. And two weeks into the season, one is 2-0 while the other is 0-2.

"We're learning and growing," Dick said. "It's a young coaching staff and I think it'll be fun to see where we can take these guys by the end of the year."

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This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Tough Tigers: Defense shines in Galion's gutsy football win at Carey