Galion hopes to not miss a beat
GALION – The Galion Tigers march to the beat of their own drum.
With three consecutive trips to the playoffs, they hope to keep on marching in 2016. With the graduation of 15 seniors and a head coach departing, the Tigers still bring back some impressive talent with hopes of making it four straight.
After finishing 8-3 in 2015, the Tigers return seven letter-winners on each side of the ball, three starters on offense and five on defense. No offensive linemen return.
“The strength of our offense is some of the skill athletes returning,” first-year head coach Matt Dick said. “Anytime you have a quarterback like Chase Cooke with playoff experience, it is definitely an asset and having some of his favorite targets in Harrison and Caleb Ivy coming back doesn’t hurt either. But we still have to replace our entire offensive line and learn a new system at the same time.”
Cooke returns with his third coach in three years after transferring from Crestline prior to last season. The senior has plenty of classmates accompanying him at the skilled positions. Ryan Talbott steps in for the departed Drake Barnett and Garrett Kuns takes over at fullback. Caleb Ivy and junior Harrison Ivy will be chasing down passes at receiver.
Bobby Gilbert gets the nod at tight end joining an unproven offensive line featuring a pair of sophomores and three seniors. Brett May, Logan Newcome and Nick Sorrenson are the seniors taking up the interior linemen positions with sophomores Karson Rinehart and Noah Grochowalski at tackles.
Connor Morton looks to finish off a stellar career at kicker after earning all-District honors his first three years. They Ivy boys will be the return specialists. Juniors Tanner Crisman, Takoda Crisman and Chase Castline add depth at receiver while senior Gabe Makeever is the back-up center.
Defensively, the Tigers have some youth, but return some important pieces to last year’s defense which pitched shutouts in its first three games of 2015.
“The strength of our defense is returning three inside linebackers, Garrett Kuns, Bobby Gilbert and Ryan Talbott, from last year’s playoff team,” Dick said. “Our weakness will be adjusting to a new system with lots of new starters.”
Junior DayVin Hagemann, senior Brett May and sophomore Zach Carroll make up the defensive line with Tanner Crisman and Kade Dyer as outside linebackers. Kuns, Gilbert and Talbott will be the leaders of the defense as linebackers as well.
Harrison and Caleb Ivy are joined by Castline in the secondary. Takoda Crisman will see time there as well. Rinehart and Newcome add depth to the defensive line with Jake Watkins coming in as an extra linebacker.
For the past three seasons, the Tigers have been able to play in Week 11, but walked away with an 0-3 record. Dick is now faced with the task of continuing that success and overcoming obstacles associated with hitting the reset button on a program.
“We want to come together as a team, challenge for a league title and continue our playoff streak,” Dick said. “I am new to this side of the MOAC, but I can tell you after watching film that it is a very competitive league. Week in and week out, you have to be prepared and play well to win.”
With a positive outlook, Dick and his team are still faced with accomplishing a few X-factors in order to be successful.
“We will have to see how fast we can transition to a new offensive and defensive system and how fast we can come together as a team,” Dick said.
The Tigers open up at home against Crawford County rival Bucyrus in Week 1.
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Twitter: @JakeFurr11
2016 Schedule
8/26 BUCYRUS
9/2 Cardington-Lincoln
9/9 Keystone
9/16 Buckeye Valley
9/23 JONATHAN ALDER
9/30 MARION HARDING
10/7 River Valley
10/14 FAIRBANKS
10/21 North union
10/28 PLEASANT
2015 Results (8-3)
55 Bucyrus 0
40 COLUMBUS CRUSADERS 0
49 KEYSTONE 0
32 BUCKEYE VALLEY 38
13 Jonathan Alder 35
24 Marion Harding 21
38 RIVER VALLEY 21
70 Fairbanks 7
62 NORTH UNION 21
42 PLEASANT 6
28 Edison 49 (Regional Quarterfinal)