GALION — Chris Hawkins didn’t need to send out a search party to locate a scouting report for Galion’s Division IV, Region 12 quarterfinal against Triway.
All the longtime coach had to do was dust off a copy of last year’s regional opener against Kenton. It should serve as a reasonable facsimile.
The top-seeded Titans (10-0), who host No. 8 seed Galion (6-4) at Jack Miller Field at 7:30 p.m. Friday, used Kenton’s wide-open attack as a blueprint for their own high-octane passing game.
Both Galion and Triway were eliminated by Kenton in last year’s playoffs, Galion in the quarterfinals and Triway in the semifinals. It wasn’t long after Triway’s 46-6 loss to Kenton that Titans’ coach Tony Lee decided to emulate the Wildcats.
“They have been a shotgun spread team for the past few years, but when they played Kenton last year they were really impressed with the Kenton offense,” Hawkins said. “This year they are five wide about 85 percent of the time.
“We are hoping last year’s experience (against Kenton) will help us against Triway.”
Like the Kenton teams of old, Triway has one of the most prolific passers in state history triggering the offense. Kenton had Ben Mauk and younger brother Maty, the starting quarterback at the University of Missouri. Triway has Parker Carmichael. The senior ranks fifth nationally with 3,684 passing yards this season, according to maxpreps.com. Carmichael has thrown for 11,148 yards, fourth on Ohio’s unofficial career passing list behind Maty (18,932) and Ben (17,364) Mauk and Ada’s Zac Dysert (11,174).
Galion would like nothing more than to prevent Carmichael from climbing any further up the list.
“He’s the real deal,” Hawkins said. “He makes that offense go.”
For the season, Carmichael has completed 297 of 399 passes for 3,684 yards and a whopping 48 touchdowns. What’s more, he’s only been intercepted four times. He threw for 600 yards in Triway’s 74-47 win over Waynedale in Week 3 and tossed eight touchdowns passes in a 56-20 win over Fairless two weeks later.
“He does a really good job of finding his receivers in space,” said Galion safety Cario Davison, who verbally committed to Division I Western Michigan earlier this season. “If you give him time to set his feet, he will pick you apart. We have got to get some pressure on him.
“Our best defense against him is keeping him off the field. We have to sustain drives offensively.”
Galion quarterback Jacob Fryer has enjoyed a breakout season of his own. The junior and first-year starter is among area rushing leaders with 1,412 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns on 168 carries. Davison has 34 catches for 435 yards and four touchdowns.
Defensively, Drake Barnett leads the way with 110 tackles. Jermaine Burkett is next with 95 stops.
The Tigers finished fourth in the rugged Mid Ohio Athletic Conference behind Pleasant, Jonathan Alder and River Valley. Galion’s brutal schedule, which also included playoff qualifiers Madison and Keystone, should help going forward.
“We feel the league has prepared us for the postseason. That is why we got into the MOAC,” Hawkins said. “If we play like we did in a few of our conference games this year, I like our chances.”
