After falling in an early hole, Mount Gilead was able to battle back against visiting Ridgemont to take a slim 21-20 victory and improve to 2-1.
The Indians trailed 14-0 at the half, but scored 21 straight points to surge in front. MG got on the board late in the third quarter on a 15-yard scoring run by Jonah Barnett.
In the fourth quarter, they would get a touchdown on a fumble return by Bryce Gaines to tie the score and then went ahead on a 35-yard pass from Tyler Bland to Cole Grace. Scott Page added successful PAT kicks on all three scores.
While the Gophers would score in the final minute of the game, they failed on a two-point conversion attempt, allowing the Indians to get out of the game with the “W” despite being outgunned 340-290.
Of those yards, Barnett tallied 191 on the ground to follow-up his amazing game from the previous week, while Anthony Clark added 31. Bland completed five passes for 51 yards, with Grace catching two and Alijah Keen getting three receptions.
Cardington Pirates
Cardington got out to a strong start at home against Ontario on Friday, but the middle two quarters proved costly to the Pirates in a 59-34 loss that dropped the locals to 2-1.
Luke McCarrell had first-quarter scoring passes to Devin Pearl of 30 and 65 yards to boost Cardington to a 13-12 lead after 12 minutes of play. However, the Warriors scored twice in the second period to take a 26-13 lead into the half and then dominated the third quarter by a 27-7 count to put the game away.
McCarrell did hit Garrett Wagner on a 24-yard pass play for points in the third and the Pirate senior contributed to two more touchdowns in the fourth — a 22-yard pass to Pearl and a 10-yard run — as Cardington was able to cut into their deficit down the stretch before falling to the Warriors.
Both teams racked up the yards in the game, with Ontario taking a 549-449 edge. Cardington got 292 yards from McCarrell on 17 completions through the air. Pearl caught six for 137 yards, while Nate Craig caught four for 40. On the ground, McCarrell had 84 yards and Mason Goers added 63.
Rob Hamilton can be reached at 419-946-3010, ext. 1807. Connect with him on Twitter at @SportsMCS
