Locals look to wrap up outright NCC title

By JON KLEINKNECHT

Inquirer Sports Editor

There is plenty on the line as the Galion Tigers make the trip to Rich­land County on Fri­day to bat­tle the Ontario War­riors in the regular-season foot­ball finale.

With a 15–7 win over seven-time reign­ing North Cen­tral Con­fer­ence cham­pion Wyn­ford last week, the Orange-and-Blue wrapped up at least a share of the NCC crown, elim­i­nat­ing the Roy­als from the pic­ture in the process.

Galion is 8–1 over­all and 6–0 in the NCC. A vic­tory over the War­riors on Fri­day not only gives the Tigers the con­fer­ence title out­right, it will also guar­an­tee them a spot in the playoffs.

The War­riors — 6–3 over­all and 5–1 in the con­fer­ence — are play­ing for a lot, too. If they defeat the Tigers, they’ll be NCC co-champs. Cur­rently ranked 13th in Divi­sion IV, Region 14, Ontario also has an out­side shot at the post-season.

Galion is presently ranked fourth in the same region. The top eight teams in the region at the end of Fri­day night will qual­ify for the play­offs. The top four teams in the region will host first round play­off games on Fri­day, Novem­ber 2.

Head coach Chris Hawkins of the Tigers said a loss to the War­riors on Fri­day could drop his squad as far as ninth in the ratings.

“They’re play­ing for an awful lot, and so are we,” Hawkins stated. “It’s their last home, if they win they’re co-champs and they also have a chance at the playoffs.”

A year ago, the Tigers topped the War­riors 36–26 in the finale. That kept Ontario out of the play­offs as they fin­ished ranked ninth. The Tigers were 10th.

“They’re gonna be pumped up,” Hawkins said. “We obvi­ously need to be focused. I expect our kids to be ready.”

Ontario’s only con­fer­ence loss came at the hands of Upper San­dusky via a n 18–14 score in the fifth week.

One week later, the War­riors ended Wynford’s 66-game regular-season win­ning streak — the longest run­ning one in Ohio at the time — by thump­ing the Roy­als 26–7. That began what is cur­rently a four-game win­ning string for Friday’s opponent.

The War­riors lost two of their three non-conference games early in the sea­son. Included was a 34–14 shel­lack­ing by Shelby — the only win this year for the Whippets.

“If they bring their “A” game, they’re as good as any team we play,” Hawkins said. “We have to get bet­ter. That’s what we look to do every week.”

(The remain­der of the story is avail­able in printed issues of the Galion Inquirer)

Posted by Jon Kleinknecht on Oct 24 2012. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.