RECORD SETTING NIGHT …Edon quarterback Drew Gallehue fires a pass in the Bombers 52-28 win over Ottawa Hills. Gallehue eclipsed 10,000 career passing yards in the first quarter, becoming just the 12th quarterback in Ohio high school football history to do so. (PHOTO BY RICH HARDING, STAFF)
By: Daniel Cooley
EDON – The battle for the Toledo Area Athletic Conference (TAAC) crown came down to two different styles of offense, with one team that likes to grind it out against a team that likes to air it out. In the end, it was the team that likes to air it out that prevailed, 52-28. The TAAC title is Edon’s first.
Edon finished the regular season at 9-1 overall and 4-0 in the TAAC. Ottawa Hills finished the regular season at 6-4 overall and 3-2 in the TAAC.
“I believe Edon won a title in a Michigan (based) conference a long time ago, but I’m not sure,” said Edon head coach Bob Olwin.
“You’ll have to ask someone from Edon about that. We had some goals we set this year. One was to beat Edgerton and another was to win the TAAC, so we accomplished two of our goals.”
Edon quarterback Drew Gallehue led the Bomber attack with 497 yards passing, completing 24 of 30 passes for six touchdowns.
Gallehue’s 24 completions went to seven different receivers. Gannon Ripke led Edon’s receiving corps with eight receptions for 169 yards, along with three touchdowns.
“The offense was firing on all cylinders tonight,” Ripke said. “We space our receivers out, so it’s hard for other teams to find a solution to our passing game.”
“It feels pretty good, too, to win the TAAC. We’re not satisfied though, we’ve got the state playoffs, now.”
Along with Gallehue’s 497 yards passing, he was able to reach a milestone of 10,000 yards passing. Gallehue becomes just the 12th Ohio high school quarterback to reach that career total.
Gallehue came into the game needing 211 yards to get to the 10,000-yard mark and did it in the first half, with a 65-yard TD pass to Hayden Dye.
That touchdown gave Edon a 32-14 lead, but Ottawa Hills scored late in the first half to cut Edon’s halftime lead to 32-21. “It’s a great accomplishment, but at the time, I wasn’t thinking much about that,” Gallehue said. “We had a game to win.”
“My accomplishment couldn’t be done without the offensive line blocking to give me time to throw and also the receivers that we have.” “None of it would be achievable without them. Also, we had a goal to win the TAAC and we did that today.”
With the 32-21 halftime lead, Edon gave itself some breathing room with two third quarter touchdowns, a Gallehue’s 60-yard TD toss to Ripke and a three-yard TD rush by Henley Dye. Henley Dye’s TD run put Edon up, 46-21.
Ottawa Hills then answered that score with a nine-yard TD pass from Green Bears quarterback Chase Miller to A.J. George to cut Edon’s lead to 46-28.
Ottawa Hills was led by 145 rushing yards from George, who also had 73 receiving yards. Miller threw for 148 yards and three TD’s.
“Ottawa Hills is a hard team to defend because of the way they run the ball,” Olwin said.
“They get everybody all bunched up in the middle and it’s hard to tell who has the ball. They passed the ball well tonight, which they hadn’t done all year, too. (Defensively), we need to read our keys better.”
Leading 46-28, Edon put the game away with Gallehue’s 13-yard TD strike to Ethan Steinke. That gave Edon a 52-28 lead with just 4:56 left.
Ottawa Hills tested Edon early, scoring on its opening possession on Miller’s one yard plunge, to take a 7-0 lead.
Edon quickly answered though, on Gallehue’s 70-yard TD pass to Hayden dye. Gallehue then threw to Steinke for the two-point conversion pass to put Edon in front, 8-7.
After forcing Ottawa Hills to put on its next possession, Edon took a 16-7 lead on Gallehue’s three-yard TD pass to Ripke.
After recovering an Ottawa Hills fumble on the Edon 23-yard line, the Bombers scored again on Gallehue’s 22-yard TD pass to Ripke and that put Edon up, 24-7, after one quarter.
However, Ottawa Hills outscored Edon 14-8 in the second quarter, to close the Edon lead to 32-21 at halftime.
Statistics
Ottawa Hills Edon
First Downs 15 16
Rushing-Yards 47-188 7-(-4)
Passing Yards 168 497
Passing 10-13 24-30
Fumbles-Lostt 7-3 0-0
Pernalties-Yards 7-75 3-40
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Ottawa Hills 7 14 0 7 – 28
Edon 24 8 14 6 – 52
OH – Miller 1 run (Duran kick)
E – Ha. Dye 70 pass from Gallehue (Steinke pass from Gallehue)
E – Ripke 3 pass from Gallehue (Steinke pass from Gallehue)
E – Ripke 22 pass from Gallehue (Steinke pass from Gallehue)
OH – Perozek 17 pass from Miller (Duran kick)
E – Ha. Dye 65 pass from /Gallehue (Nester pass from Gallehue)
OH – Burke 8 pass from Miller (Duran kick)
E – Ripke 60 pass from Gallehue (pass failed)
E – He. Dye 3 run (Ha. Dye pass from Gallehue)
OH – George 9 pass from Miller (Duran kick)
E – Steinke 13 pass from Gallehue (kick failed)
Dan can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com
