GALION — Gabe Ivy never met his father, but he’s heard all the stories.
On Homecoming night and in his final regular season home game, Ivy honored the memory of his late father in Galion’s 42-35 Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference win over River Valley.
Ivy’s father, United States Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Kendall Ivy, was killed in action while serving in Iraq in May of 2005. He was 28.
A 1995 Galion graduate, Kendall Ivy was a standout football and baseball player. His No. 8 jersey was retired after his death.
Gabe Ivy, who was born four months after his father’s death, brought the jersey out of retirement Friday night and rushed for a pair of touchdowns in his return from an ankle injury.
“My father gave the ultimate sacrifice for his country,” Gabe Ivy said. “I never got to meet him, but I heard all these stories about how amazing he was at football.
“I’ve been waiting for this and when I got hurt, I told myself I had to get healthy in time for this game.”
Ivy, who sat out the last two weeks after partially tearing an ankle tendon in a Week Six loss to Ontario, and Galion quarterback Braxton Prosser carved up a porous River Valley defense. Prosser, who rushed for three first-half TDs, was glad to see his running mate return.
“It was great to have him back,” Prosser said. “I ran the ball a lot (in Ivy’s absence) and it is nice to have a break. He’s a great back and the offensive line did a great job.”
Prosser spotted the Tigers (6-3, 3-3) to the early lead with a 15-yard touchdown run, but the Vikings (4-5, 3-3) answered on their first possession when quarterback Chase Ebert hooked up with Keyan Shidone on a 79-yard catch-and-run on fourth-and-one.
Prosser’s 35-yard TD run on Galion’s next possession gave the Tigers 13-7 advantage, but the Vikings again answered. Ebert connected with Carter Park on a 26-yard TD on a third-and-long to give River Valley a 14-13 lead.
Prosser’s third rushing TD, a 9-yarder midway through the second quarter, gave the Tigers a 20-14 lead. River Valley was forced to punt on its next possession and Ivy gave Galion a 28-14 lead with a 6-yard TD run with 2:58 to play in the first half.
“When you get a kid like him back, it makes you look a heck of a lot smarter,” Galion coach Matt Dick said of Ivy, who had rushed for 776 yards and eight touchdowns before his ankle injury. “We’ve got a great group of kids and when they are all here, we’re pretty special.”
River Valley received the second-half kickoff and marched the length of the field in less than two minutes. Ebert’s 6-yard TD pass to Shidone cut Galion’s lead to 28-21 with 10:08 to play in the third.
A 1-yard Jimmy Hardy touchdown run pushed Galion’s lead to 35-21 before Ebert tossed his fourth TD pass of the evening, an 8-yarder to Trenton Mercer to cut Galion’s lea to 35-28 late in the third.
Ivy busted loose for a 64-yard touchdown run early in the fourth to give the Tigers a 42-28 lead. The Vikings made it a one-score game when Ebert scored on a 2-yard keeper on fourth-and-goal with 5:38 remaining.
The Vikings would never get the ball back as Galion was able to run out the clock on its final possession. The Tigers didn’t punt all evening.
“We knew it was going to be a shootout like this,” Prosser said. “It was the same way last year (a 56-49 Galion win). It was a fantastic game last year and we all kind of felt it would be the same type of game this year.”
Dick agreed.
“If you watch River Valley, their offense is fast and furious,” Dick said. “At the half we were winning 28-14 and we told our guys, ‘River Valley has us right where they want us.’ It sounds crazy, but that is how River Valley’s offense rolls.”
Galion locked up a playoff berth with the win. The Tigers close the regular season at Marion Harding next week.
“I think that we’re playing our best football right now,” Prosser said. “If we win next week, there’s a pretty good chance we will host a first-round playoff game and we haven’t lost at home this year.”
As for Ivy, he was glad he could give his father’s jersey a fitting send-off.
“He played receiver, but I didn’t inherit his hands. That’s why I play running back,” Ivy joked. “It was an emotional week and not just for me. My whole family was in my corner and I’m just glad I could honor my father.”