Mount Gilead comes through in second half, beats Grove City Christian
By: Evan Johnson
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GROVE CITY, Ohio (WOUB) – The Mount Gilead Indians (3-0) stay undefeated after going to Grove City Christian and stumping the Eagles 21-7. The Indians scored 14 unanswered points in the second half.
Mount Gilead entered the game after a dogfight with Upper Sandusky the week before, its only score coming in the first quarter. Grove City Christian has had an opposite start to their season, putting up 66 points in its first two games.
The Indians appeared to be on track to continue their struggles with offense, running the ball on four consecutive plays, and turning it over on downs. The Eagles didn’t have much luck either, going three-and-out on their first drive.
After the teams started to feel each other out, Mount Gilead struck first. A primarily run offense changed its game plan and took to the air. Senior QB Cole Fricke launched a deep pass to WR Hayden Somerlot, who made an impressive catch to complete the 51-yard touchdown pass.
Grove City Christian responded right away, working its way downfield also through the air. The Eagles were able to get the job done on the ground. QB Douglas Housley scrambled for 12 yards to tie the game up at 7 points apiece.
After the two quick scores, the offense went stagnant, and the defense stepped up. Each team traded blows in the second quarter, and DB William Fillinger snatched an interception to give the Eagles the ball back. However, the front seven for Mount Gilead was hard-hitting and had several big stops on fourth down.
The Eagles had the final drive of the first half. After getting stumped on third and goal, they elected for a field goal. The ball went wide left, keeping the game tied 7-7 at the half.
Once the Indians got the ball, they had no intentions of giving it back, going back to their ground-and-pound offense. RB Carson Barnum, Mount Gilead’s leading rusher, kept slowly making his way down the field. He punched it in to regain the lead 13-7.
Grove City Christian could not find rhythm on offense. Housley was pressured in the backfield almost every play, making it difficult to find his receivers down field. Frustration grew on the sidelines as he was hit nearly every play.
After getting the ball back, the Indians continued to run the clock down and they found the end zone once more. This time it was Fricke who was now showing it off on the ground, running through the middle on the goal line. They converted the 2-point conversion to expand their lead to 21-7.
Mount Gilead was never able to put anything together on offense and the game ended 21-7 with Grove City Christian picking up its first loss of the season.
Mount Gilead will start conference play next Friday when they take on last year’s KMAC champion, Danville.
Grove City Christian will look to get back on track taking on its first conference opponent as well, Bishop Rosecrans.