For the third time in four seasons the Garfield G-Men football team will sail into the playoffs with a perfect regular season record. Garfield capped off another undefeated season when it defeated Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Tier rival Brookfield 60-25 last Friday night at JAG Field in Garrettsville.
“It was awesome,” said Coach Mike Moser. “It is a compliment to the kids. I am so proud of everything they have accomplished, and we have some great workers and some great leadership and just a great group of kids.”
The G-Men (10-0, 6-0) have been awarded the number five seed in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division V Region 17 playoff bracket and will host Conneaut in the first round on Friday at 7 p.m.
“We are just getting into it right now and seeing what everybody has but Conneaut’s Coach Dobran has built a nice program there,” said Garfield’s 10-year coach. “I imagine there will be some similarities from year to year, but we will have to get into it. They will be well-coached, and they will be where they are supposed to be and we will have to play well again.”
On Friday, although Garfield had already wrapped up its second MVAC Grey Tier banner, it still had unfinished business, facing the team that defeated them for the conference championship last season.
Moser acknowledged that last year’s defeat still weighed heavily on his team’s mind.
“Our kids have done a good job at just taking everything one week at a time but this one probably did mean a little bit more to them,” he added.
Since joining the MVAC Grey Tier, Garfield has a 20-1 record against league opponents en route to their second conference championship.
Garfield raced out to another fast start, with a 49-yard touchdown reception by senior tailback/defensive back Deacon Summer and a 37-yard touchdown catch by senior running back/linebacker Keegan Sell to take a 14-0 lead.
The Warriors responded with a 1-yard touchdown run by freshman tailback Rico Smith, trimming the G-Men’s lead 14-7 but Garfield’s offense kept moving the chains and Sell scored again, this time on a 1-yard rushing touchdown, pushing the G-Men’s lead to 21-7.
“We started fast, and they started fast,” Moser said. “Brookfield has some special kids and some nice players, and they got loose a couple of times and we got loose a couple of times. It was probably fun from a fan standpoint but it was white knuckle time as a coach but it certainly was some exciting football on both sides.”
The 6-foot Sell ignited Garfield’s offense in the second quarter, scoring three touchdowns of 74, 42 and 12 yards, outscoring Brookfield by a 19-12 margin and take a 40-19 lead into the half.
Sell set a school record for most rushing yards in a game, collecting 324 yards and five touchdowns on only 13 carries and added a touchdown catch of 37 yards.
“It was a credit to that kid and he will have multiple records by the time he leaves here but he will be the first one to tell you we are not into the individual stuff as much,” Moser added. “Those things happen when the teams are playing well but it is certainly something he can be very proud of.”
According to Moser, in last year’s defeat, the G-Men failed to start fast and made several mental mistakes that put them behind the chains and also resulted in turnovers, but this year Garfield turned the tables on the Warriors to finish with an undefeated season.
Garfield’s defense continued dominating in the second half, holding the Warriors to only one touchdown and outscored them by a 20-6 margin in the third quarter, triggering the running clock.
Moser acknowledged the G-Men struggled with tackling Brookfield players at the start of the game but improved as the game went on and assumed control in the second half.
“Those things are going to happen when you are playing good teams with good players,” he said. “They are going to make plays too. Our kids have done a good job all year long whether it is against Warren John F. Kennedy or any of those types, like at Newton Falls, our kids have done a good job of responding and bouncing back when some adversity hits.”
For the senior class, it marked the third undefeated regular season for them and improved their overall record to 37-2.
“It is hard to do much better than they have done,” Moser said. “It is a credit to those guys and everything they have they have earned.”
