Fairland Runs Away with a Dominant Conference Victory
By: Zachary Knight
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(PROCTORVILLE, Ohio) – The Gallia Academy Blue Devils made the journey to the Concrete Palace in Proctorville to challenge the Fairland Dragons for a huge Ohio Valley Conference matchup. Going into this game, Gallia Academy sat confidently in the top four of the conference, while Fairland found themselves in the bottom four teams of the OVC rankings. This game, however, would see a big shakeup when it came to these rankings.
Out of the gate, this game was all about the Dragons, who stormed onto the field and Quinten Creamens blasted 48 yards down the field to put them on the board 6-0. The Blue Devils struggled with an efficient Fairland offense who consistently found their way through the middle of the Blue Devil defense.
Hunter Shamblin for the Blue Devils responded in the second quarter, receiving a pass from Bray Rathburn and running for 72 yards down the field to get Gallia Academy’s first score of the game with only 23 seconds of play into the second quarter.
Fairland once again showed their effectiveness at responding and gained two more touchdowns from Brycen Hunt and Christian Collins to make the score a confident 21-7 lead for the Dragons going into the half. The Blue Devils struggled to pass in the first half, and Fairland picked up two interceptions which helped expand their lead early on.
The second half started off rocky for the Dragons, who struggled against the new play style of the Gallia Academy defense. Gallia Academy’s offense opted to keep the ball on the ground in the second half. After this change, Hudson Shamblin for the Blue Devils snagged a pick 6, running 18 yards into the endzone.
The game proved to be a back and forth battle all the way to the end with each team consistently finding themselves in the endzone. Offense on both sides was fast, sneaky and efficient, but ultimately the Dragons pulled through with a final score of 40-34.
Up next on the slate for the Dragons is another conference matchup against South Point, while the Blue Devils will play Dawson Bryant in Gallipolis. After tonight, Gallia Academy’s undefeated record has been snapped, dramatically shaking up the OVC.