Bulldog freshman Isaac Bird jars the ball loose from Polo’s Gavin Fitzwater during first half action of Friday night’s weather-interrupted game at Bulldog Field.
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Defense, special teams dominate 41-0 homecoming victory over Polo
Gage Wright filled in for an injured Tristen Gibson Friday night, kicking five out of six extra points from Brinley Vandiver’s hold.
The Gallatin Bulldogs choked the Polo Panthers with defense and special teams play during Friday’s half of a weather-interrupted GRC contest, then provided a big dose of offense when play resumed Saturday morning … all leading to a 41-0 victory that kept Gallatin a share of the league lead heading into the second half of the regular season.
Gallatin, 5-0, faces perhaps its biggest test of the season this week against a South Harrison team that is poised for a Class 1 top ten ranking. The purple and white Bulldogs are also 5-0 after slipping past Maysville last week. Gallatin and South Harrison bring the top two scoring offenses and top two scoring defenses into play on Friday.
Offensively, South Harrison is led by quarterback Austin Lasher, running backs Collin Haffey and Gradyn Linthacum and receivers Brayden Sunderman and Tyler Daugherty.
“South Harrison runs the ball well and has a stout defense that we are accustomed to,” says GHS Coach Patrick Treece. “They are big and physical up front and have three tough backs that will split the load for them,” he added. “To get a win on Friday, we have to be able to run the ball more effectively between the tackles, play sound defense and use our team’s speed to our advantage.”
Friday’s action kicked off with a punt block by Landon Corwin and recovery in the end zone by Tom Crouse. Ross Critten and Aidan Adkison each returned punts for scores. Isaac Bird intercepted a pass that set up Gallatin’s final score before play was suspended, this time a Critten five-yard run. Adkison and Haden Bradford added rushing TDs on Saturday.
“It was great to see the special teams get rolling on Friday and Saturday,” said Treece. “We knew the capability of our return game and all we needed was an opportunity to showcase that,” he advised. “We really didn’t have a lot of offensive possessions in the game and only ran 36 offensive plays,” he added.
Gage Wright kicked five of six extra points for the Bulldogs. His only miss came after three penalties forced a fourth kick attempt following Critten’s TD run.
But for a pair of pass completions, the Panthers would have been looking at negative total yards from scrimmage in the first half.
“Defensively, we were able to take away Polo’s strength in running the football,” Treece stated. “We avoided misaligning to their unbalanced formations and tackled well all game,” he added. “It was nice to get everyone some varsity playing time and I was pleased with both the first and second team efforts.”
Gallatin led, 27-0, when lightning forced an hour postponement before coaches and school officials huddled up and decided to finish the game Saturday at 10 a.m. The Bulldogs added touchdown runs from Adkison and Haden Bradford when play resumed.
Five players, Crouse, JJ Waters, Drayton Harris, Jagger Gray and Gabe Parker, combined for five sacks of Panther signal callers. Rodell Sperry forced a fumble, recovered by Bradford.
GALLATIN 41, POLO 0
Gallatin 14 13 14 0 41
Polo 0 0 0 0 0
SCORING SUMMARY
G: Crouse blocked punt recovery (Wright kick).
G: Critten 55 yd. punt return (Wright kick).
G: Adkison 70 yd. punt return (Wright kick).
G: Critten 5 yd. run (kick blocked).
G: Adkison run (Wright kick).
G: Bradford run (Wright kick).
GHS STATISTICS
Passing: Vandiver 5-7-64, 2 INT.; Feiden 1-2-7.
Rushing: Adkison 12-91, TD; Bradford 7-52, TD; Critten 2-9, TD; Sperry 3-3; Gray 1-0; Stout 1-(-4); Vandiver 1-(-7).
Receiving: Waters 3-39, Critten 1-17, Adkison 1-8, Bird 1-7.
Leading tacklers: Critten 7/2, Crouse 6/4,Sperry 5/1,Wright 4/3, Bird 4/1, Harris 3/2, Feiden 2 /3,Waters 2/2, Corwin 2/2.
Takeaways: QB Sack: Harris (1.5), Waters, Gray, Parker, Crouse (.5). Interception: Bird. Fumble recovery: Bradford. Forced fumble: Sperry. Blocked punt: Corwin.
GRC STANDINGS <197> Week 5
GRC ALL
Gallatin 3-0 5-0
S. Harrison 3-0 5-0
Princeton 3-0 4-1
Putnam Co. 2-1 3-2
Milan 1-2 2-3
Maysville 0-3 0-5
Polo 0-3 0-5
Trenton 0-3 0-5
Sept. 27 Results
Gallatin 41, Polo 0
S. Harrison 26, Maysville 21
Princeton 21, Trenton 7
Putnam Co. 14, Milan 13
Oct. 4 Schedule
Gallatin at South Harrison
Maysville at Polo
Princeton at Putnam Co.
Trenton at Milan
Class 1, District 8 Ranking
Record Pts.
1. Gallatin 5-0 43.8
Class 1 State Ranking
1.Lincoln 5-0
T9. Adrian 4-1
T9. Miller 4-0