The Garfield G-Men football team continues to excel in the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Tier, extending their conference winning streak to 17 games by routing Champion 56-22 last Friday evening at JAG Stadium in Garrettsville.
“We played well,” Coach Mike Moser said. “The kids played well, and we came out and scored right off of the bat. We played well and had a nice game.”
It marked the most complete offensive performance by the G-Men this season, scoring a touchdown on all but one drive.
“We ran it well,” the 13-year coach noted. “Jack Niekirk threw it well. We didn’t punt, we turned the ball over once and there are still some things we have to work on but all in all it graded out as a pretty good offensive performance.”
On Friday, Garfield (4-1, 2-0) raced out to an early lead with an opening drive that resulted in a touchdown, pushing it ahead 7-0 but the Golden Flashes responded with a kickoff return touchdown to even the score at 7-7.
Although the G-Men’s early lead was short-lived, they engineered another touchdown drive on their second possession to take a 14-7 lead and never relinquished control.
According to Moser, what was even more encouraging than Garfield’s offensive efficiency was the number of explosive plays the team made on every drive. As much as the squad has thrived wearing down the opposition with a methodical run game, explosive plays make the G-Men’s offense that much more dynamic.
“We have some pretty good weapons and some guys that can hit the long ones and those guys are also hard-running tough guys that can handle the five or six yard carries but again I think in high school football, momentum is so big and when you bust off a big play, it is a momentum-builder,” he added.
The G-Men scored 28 unanswered points in the first half after Champion’s kickoff return touchdown to take a commanding 35-7 advantage into the half.
Once again, it was the rushing game that paved the way for success as nine players combined for 476 yards and five rushing touchdowns as the team welcomed junior tailback/linebacker Devin Bates return to action after missing the last three games due to an injury.
Moser acknowledged that the 6-foot junior’s absence was felt but other players rose to the occasion to fill his void, leading to success in the rushing game which demonstrated the depth at the running backs’ position.
Bates carried the ball five times to record 35 rushing yards and one touchdown.
With the return of Bates, Moser said that an already lethal ground game became a lot more dangerous.
“In his absence, some other kids had stepped up and done a great job and that is a credit to them and their position coaches for getting them ready to play,” Moser said. “It is a big boost and a morale boost and all of those things to get Devin back:”
As much as of a welcome sight as it has been to have Bates return to the fold, Moser noted that the success of other players who received more rushing attempts in his absence and have gained more confidence. With the growing confidence in other players as well as Bates’ return, Moser said that an already deep tailbacks’ room has grown even deeper.
“You see this stuff all of the time, you hate to lose kids but when you do lose kids, when the next guy comes in and does a great and job and when that guy comes back, your team is that much better than it was a going into it,” he said.
After stopping the Golden Flashes on their opening drive of the second half, Garfield once again scored a touchdown, pushing the lead to 42-7 to trigger the running clock. Although Champion countered with a touchdown on the ensuing drive to stop the running clock, the G-Men were in firm control.
After a lackluster defensive performance in the G-Men’s double overtime loss against Edgewood in week one, Moser said that that season-opening loss has served Garfield well in making the necessary defensive adjustments, surrendering fewer than 30 points in each of their last four games.
“We are going to see more teams like that down the schedule,” he said. “You never like to lose a game but there are always positives that come out of everything that you do, and I think in the long run, it probably was something that motivated us and made us work to get better.”
The G-Men will host MVAC Grey Tier and Portage County foe Southeast at JAG Stadium on Friday at 7 p.m.
