GALION — The Hays had a day.

Galion twins Kane and Kurt Hay each scored a touchdown and Kane had a game-clinching interception — sort of — as the second-seeded Tigers rallied for a 17-14 win over No. 6 Sandusky Perkins in the Division IV, Region 14 semifinals Friday at Unckrich Stadium. 

Galion (11-1) trailed 7-0 at the half before coming to life in the third quarter. Kane Hay caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Ayden Schmidt to tie the score midway through the third period. 

Kurt got into the act later in the period when he pounced on Schmidt’s fumble in the end zone, giving Galion a 14-7 lead with 1:22 to play in the third quarter.

“When I can get a big play and my twin … he made a ton of big plays,” Kane Hay said. “It means everything.”

First-half stalemate

The game was scoreless deep into the first half before Perkins (9-4) broke the ice late in second quarter. Quarterback Sam Schweinfurth tossed a short pass to Kaden Legando, who mad a man miss and raced 42 yards for a touchdown with 1:01 showing on the clock.

“We’ve been playing great defense for a long time here at Galion,” coach Matt Dick said. “We got a little conservative offensively because I knew we could play great defense.”

Frenetic sinish

Galion extended its lead to 17-7 on Braylen Beachy’s 21-yard field goal with 1:45 remaining in the game.

The double-digit lead was short lived, however as Schweinfurth hooked up with Legando on a 30-yard touchdown with 1:21 left, making it 17-14.

Galion recovered the ensuing onside kick, but couldn’t move the chains. The Tigers punted the ball and Perkins took over with about a minute remaining.

The Pirates marched the length of the field, but with 4 seconds remaining, Schweinfurth’s desperation heave to the end zone was intercepted by Kane Hay.

Hay brought the ball out of the end zone as time expired. The official blew the play dead as Hay dropped the ball. 

A Perkins player alertly picked up the loose ball and ran it into the end zone. 

The officiating crew conferred and ruled an inadvertent whistle brought the play to an end. Perkins was given an untimed down but Schweinfurth’s pass fell incomplete to end the game.

“(Hay) intercepted the ball and they blew the whistle by accident so our kids stopped,” Dick said. “It was an inadvertent whistle, so we had to play it again.”

Rematch

The Tigers will play top-seeded Shelby for the regional championship next week. The Whippets beat Lima Bath 49-7.

Shelby beat Galion 45-34 in Week 4.

“We had a bad taste in our mouth when we went over to Shelby and didn’t find a way to win it in the fourth,” Dick said. “To have a chance to redo it is awesome.”