GALION — Galion has knocked on the door for decades. This season, the Tigers finally broke it down.
Galion will play in the regional semifinals for the first time in 40 years on Friday when Sandusky Perkins invades Unckrich Stadium.
The second-seeded Tigers (10-1) punched their ticket to the Division IV, Region 14 semifinals with a resounding 41-10 win over No. 10 Cloverleaf on Nov. 7.
“We did make history,” running back Braxton Stuckman said afterward. “It’s the first time (to the regional semifinals) in the 21st century.”
It was just the school’s third playoff victory since Lee Owens piloted the program to the Division II state championship in 1985. Galion had more postseason wins that year (four) than it has in the years after combined.
Galion reached the playoffs again in 1986 under Owens, but lost in the first round to Lemon-Monroe. The Tigers returned to the postseason in 1989 under Dick Predmore, but fell to Richfield Revere at Ashland’s Community Stadium.
Galion wouldn’t return to the playoffs until 2009. The two-decade drought included one of the most rugged stretches in program history.
From 2002 to 2007, Galion was a combined 4-56. That included a 44-game Northern Ohio League losing streak.
Chris Hawkins, who had successful runs at Wynford and Willard, turned the program around after taking over in 2007. In nine seasons under Hawkins, Galion was 61-34 with five postseason appearances, but was 0-5 in the playoffs.
Matt Dick succeeded Hawkins in 2016 and has led the Tigers to the playoffs seven straight seasons. Galion won opening-round games in 2020 and 2023.
The Tigers were 7-4 and hosted an opening-round game last year. Dick welcomed back 15 seniors this fall.
“Bringing back 15 seniors, any year you get a chance to do that, there’s a lot of high expectations,” Dick said. “Mixing some of those sophomore and juniors … it really came together well.”
Galion’s success has been a team effort. Seven Tigers rushed for more than 100 yards during the regular season and five had more than 150 receiving yards.
Dual-threat quarterback Ayden Schmidt completed 106-of-183 passes for 1,792 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushed for 277 yards and six TDs in the regular season.
Camden Kuehlman rushed for a team-high 405 yards and five TDs on 47 attempts. Stuckman had 62 carries for 303 yards and three scores.
Jacob Chambers caught 27 passes for 618 yards and eight touchdowns during the regular season, but sat out last week with an injury.
Jameson Glew caught 20 passes for 359 yards. Kane and Kurt Hay combined for 39 receptions for 574 yards and seven TDs.
Defensively, Cameron Kuehlman made 130 tackles during the regular season. Zach Sallee led the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference with 13 sacks.
Friday’s opponent, sixth-seeded Sandusky Perkins (9-3), played in the Division IV state championship game last year. The Pirates fell to Indian Valley, 37-36, in that game.
“We’ve got a lot of respect for Perkins,” Dick said. “They played for a state championship last year.
“They’re still a big, fast, scary football team.”
Perkins started the season 1-3, including a 17-14 loss to Clear Fork in the season opener. But the Pirates have now won eight in a row, including playoff victories over Lorain Clearview (51-7) and Napoleon (31-0).
A win would send Galion to the regional final and a possible rematch with top-seeded Shelby. The Whippets won the regular season meeting, 45-34.
Top-seeded Shelby hosts No. 4 Lima Bath on Friday.
“Being part of a team to go this far is pretty cool,” senior offensive lineman Blake Newell said. “We want to keep it going.”
