Sports
Gallia Academy Sinks Vinton County
By: Josh Yost
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It took one play, normally routine, for Gallia Academy High School to steal the momentum and never give it back. At the end of the game, the Gallia Academy Blue Devils improved to a 3-2 record with a 40-12 victory over the Vinton County Vikings.
After jumping out to a 20-0 lead with three straight touchdowns over the Vikings, Gallia Academy took their foot off the gas pedal for the second quarter. It would take half of the quarter for Gallia to make another big move. With an interception by Cody Call off of Andy Long of Vinton County, the Blue Devils finally took back full control.
Following the interception, Gallia Academy faced a third-and-5 at the opponent’s 44 when they took control. After bunching together and pushing most of the Viking defenders into the box, Logan Allison went into motion, took a hand-off to the right with three blockers leading his way. Facing limited defenders, he was able to juke and break a few tackles for a 30-yard gain.
The drive hit a speed bump when running back Cody Russell took the ball right with a similar look as Logan Allison. He would make it into the end zone, but a block in the back penalty negated the touchdown. It wouldn’t matter as quarterback Wade Jarrell kept the ball on an option and made his way to the one-yard line. Nick Clagg pounded it in for the touchdown and the 27-0 lead for the Blue Devils.
Vinton County finally hit their stride with 2:30 left in the first half. On the first play of their final drive of the first half was a completion to the left side to Dillon Acord on a screen pass. Acord made it past the defenders for a huge 72-yard play taking it to the four-yard line.
The Vikings would be held to fourth-and-inches, and after a time-out they stacked along the goal line. Long took the snap and immediately fell behind his left guard to score the touchdown. They failed to make anything happen on the two-point conversion.
After a 27-6 halftime lead for the Gallia Academy Blue Devils, they would just continue to pile it on. With 103 points scored in their past two games combined, Gallia will look to continue their momentum into conference play starting next week.