High school football playoffs: Galion's third-quarter rally sinks Cloverleaf

GALION — The Cloverleaf football team's historic season ran into the second half of its Division IV, Region 14 quarterfinal matchup with Galion on Friday.After playing a solid first half, things came to an abrupt end as the second-seeded Tigers exploded for 27 third-quarter points in a 41-10 win and advanced to a semifinal against defending state runner-up and No. 6 seed Sandusky Perkins, a 31-0 winner over Napoleon.The 10th-seeded Colts (7-5), playing in Week 12 for the first time, trailed just 13-3 at halftime and had a chance to pull within 7-6 with 6:20 left to half, were bum-rushed by Galion (10-1) in the third quarter.The momentum turned drastically in the Tigers' favor when Austin Sustersic's 37-yard field goal attempt was tipped at the line by Camden Kuehlman and came up just short. Galion responded by driving 80 yards in nine plays to extend its lead with 2:44 left in the first half.The Colts turned the ball over on downs on their next drive and the Tigers drove deep into Cloverleaf territory but ran out of time at the 16-yard line, keeping the score at 13-3."We came out strong," Cloverleaf defensive back David Hunter said. "We were energized; we were ready to go. We put it all out here."In the third quarter, things unraveled quickly with an Ayden Schmidt 63-yard touchdown run, a blocked punt by Zach Sallee that was recovered in the end zone for a score by Dominic Capretta, a 3-yard touchdown run from Braxton Stuckman and a 23-yard scamper by Kuehlman."You can't make those mistakes against a team like this," Cloverleaf coach Justin Vorhies said. "We can't have that stuff happen. It was stuff that we worked on and stuff that we knew. Give them credit. They are a senior-laden team and they are good. We just needed that experience. We have that now and we have to use it."The four scoring plays came in a 9:38 span and instituted the running clock.Stuckman scored three times and finished with 64 yards on 16 attempts, but Schmidt was the big playmaker with 105 yards on just five totes."It was a lot of people going down," Hunter said. "Young kids were filling the roles, and we just couldn't figure it out. We were flat and didn't come out strong (in the second half). It's tough. You feel like you lost all your momentum. You just have to get it back and move on to the next play."Galion did not attempt a pass in the second half but put up 27 points and 145 yards rushing on just 16 attempts (9.1 average). When the reserves' seven attempts for 11 yards are factored out, it's an even more impressive 134 yards on just nine carries (14.9)."Mistakes," Cloverleaf running back/linebacker Ethan Gray said. "Simple mistakes. Not finishing plays, not wrapping up and not capitalizing when we had the ball on offense."The Cloverleaf offense struggled all night against a team that has pitched four shutouts while allowing 108 points this season. Forty-five of those were against No. 1 seed Shelby (11-0), which averages 45.9 points a game.Before Tigers reserves came into the game, the Colts had just 97 total yards that included 4 yards rushing on 24 attempts.Gray (19 carries, 57 yards, TD) had 21 of those yards. The rest of the Colts had minus-17, as linebackers Cameron and Camden Kuehlman combined for six tackles for loss and Zach Sallee notched his team's only sack. Those seven plays cost Cloverleaf 30 yards.The Colts' most successful drive in the first half covered 79 yards — they had 97 total yards in the first half — but stalled at the Galion 11, forcing a Sustersic 28-yard field goal.The drive was a nice mix of run and pass, but a pair of big completions from Isaac Smith (7-of-14 passing, 102 yards, INT; 9 carries, 13 yards) to Marzell Davis (2 catches, 46 yards) were key.Smith hit Davis down the seam for 30 yards, then again for 16 yards on third-and-17 to allow the Colts to convert on fourth-and-1 on an encroachment penalty.Third downs were a sore spot for Cloverleaf, which went 0-for-8.The future for the Colts, though, still looks bright with just five seniors — Gray, Hunter, Austin Sprankle, Ethan Martin and Dominic Nau — moving on after the season."These five seniors were a part of the (Metro Athletic) conference championship team when they were freshman," Vorhies said. "They have a lot to be proud of — the first conference title in 50 years and the first playoff win in school history. Having those five guys stick around was huge. For the underclassmen, we got a taste of what playoff football is like."Gray just hopes things continue trending upward for his future alma mater."It's been great to be a part of this," he said. "I hope that I had a positive impact on the people around me and that it is something they can carry on and continue in their high school careers."Contact Chad Grant at sports@medina-gazette.com.Galion 41, Cloverleaf 10Division IV, Region 14 QuarterfinalCLOVERLEAF 3 0 0 7 — 10GALION 7 6 28 0 — 41FirstG — Braxton Stuckman 1 run (Braylen Beachy kick), 6:35.C — Austin Sustersic 28 field goal, 0:27.SecondG — Stuckman 11 run (kick failed), 2:44.ThirdG — Ayden Schmidt 63 run (Beachy kick), 11:14.G — Dominic Capretta blocked punt recovery in end zone (Beachy kick), 10:20.G — Stuckman 3 run (Beachy kick), 6:51.G — Camden Kuehlman 23 run (Beachy kick), 1:36.FourthC — Ethan Gray 2 run (Sustersic kick), 4:07. C GFirst downs 10 15Rushing 32/87 39/258Rushing average 2.7 6.6Passing 7/15 4/8Passing yards 102 63Total offense 47/189 47/321Punting 5/17.2 2/31.0Penalties 7/76 7/61Fumbles 1/0 2/0RUSHING: Cloverleaf — Gray 19-57, Marzell Davis 2-23, Isaac Smith 9-13, Team 1-(-2), Zayne Trent 1-(-4). Galion — Schmidt 5-105, Stuckman 16-64, Kuehlman 6-40, Kale Early 2-28, Cameron Manley 2-12, Trentyn Bare 1-6, Kane Hay 2-5, Sam Evans 1-5, Blake Chelski 1-1, Roman Hawk 1-(-1), Xavier Heaberlin 1-(-3), Caden Dick 1-(-4)..PASSING: Cloverleaf — Smith 7-14-102-1, Trent 0-1-0-0. Galion — Schmidt 4-8-63-0.RECEIVING: Cloverleaf — Davis 2-46, Jimmy Tolley 4-35, Trent 1-21. Galion — Jameson Glew 2-33, Kurt Hat 2-30.MISSED FIELD GOAL: Cloverleaf — Sustersic 37 (SH).