At this point in the season it is win or go home and the Garfield G-Men football team is not ready to go home. The G-Men extended their playoff march, hammering Conneaut 56-13 in their home finale in the first round of the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division V Region 17 postseason last Friday night at JAG Field.
“That’s what we keep talking about, earning another week together,” said Coach Mike Moser. “We are blessed to have another week with these kids and we are going to try and make the most out of it.”
Fifth seeded Garfield (11-0, 7-0) will go on the road and face the number four seed Harrison Central in the second round at Wagner Field in Cadiz on Friday at 7 p.m.
“I have heard about their program a lot in the past and looked at them,” said the 10-year coach. “You have to assume you are going to be playing a quality team and a well-coached team. A long trip will be a challenge for us and all of those types of things but it is playoff football, so it is adapt or go home.”
The Spartans struck first in the opening quarter, engineering a nine-play 70-yard drive capped off by a 10-yard touchdown run by senior tailback/safety Wyatt Payne to take a 7-0 lead.
“We haven’t come out of the gates we would like to the last couple of weeks but sometimes you have to tip your hat to the other guy,” Moser acknowledged. “They had a good game plan and did things a little differently and caught us off guard.”
Senior quarterback/tailback/defensive back Eric Geddes sparked the G-Men’s offense, pushing them ahead 14-7 on 1-yard and 46-yard rushing touchdowns to assume total control.
The 6-foot-3 quarterback continued dominating in the second quarter, scoring his third consecutive touchdown on a 17-yard run and added a 10-yard touchdown run near the end of the quarter.
Geddes finished the game with 181 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 16 carries and completed four passes in six attempts for 55 yards and one touchdown.
“It was another great game out of Eric,” said Moser. “He ran it well, threw it well and blocked well. He has a had great year and had a great night on Friday night.”
Most times this season the G-Men’s rushing game has been led by senior running back/linebacker Keegan Sell but Geddes could not be brought down by the Spartans’ defense, leading a G-Men offense that recorded 330 yards on the ground.
In spite of his large frame, Moser said the Ohio Dominican University baseball commit is tough to catch in the open once he breaks free of the line of scrimmage.
“Once Eric gets out and going he does not get caught very often,” said Moser. “He is a big athletic kid with a nice stride. I am sure there are faster guys out there but when he has gotten loose he has won. It is not something you see very often.”
As the G-Men pulled away, Conneaut’s offense went nowhere, being held scoreless during the rest of the first half and Garfield built a 42-7 lead at the half, triggering the running clock in the second half.
Although Conneaut scored first, like most teams had against the G-Men previously, Garfield responded as usual, overwhelming its opponent to take a big lead at the break.
“That is reassuring because when you are in the playoffs and playing good teams they are going to make plays on you too,” Moser said. “So you have to have the ability to get back on the canvas and start swinging again and it is nice to know our kids respond like that.”
The Spartans only scored one more touchdown in the second half and despite tallying 253 rushing yards on 31 carries, Garfield’s defense surrendered only 12 first downs en route to another dominating victory to advance to the second round of the playoffs.
“We missed some tackles on the first drive and over pursued a couple of things and did not get off of some blocks and had some alignment issues,” acknowledged Moser. “Once those things tightened up all of those kids played well.”
Garfield will finish the season with a perfect home record for the second time in three years and have gone 19-3 on its home turf in the past four seasons.
“That is goal number one with us and defend the home field and the kids have always taken it to heart and it is good to have a home field advantage and put on a good show for the hometown crowd,” Moser said.
