The Garfield G-Men football team has finished the first half of Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Tier play with an undefeated record. They are in a position to keep rolling through the rest of league play after defeating MVAC Grey Tier and Portage County rival Southeast 48-10 last Friday evening at JAG Stadium in Garrettsville.
“Our kids played well,” said Coach Mike Moser. “It was a tight game into the second quarter. I think Southeast had a nice game plan in terms of trying to hold onto the ball and slow some things down a little bit, so it took us a little while to get on track.”
In addition to Garfield (5-1, 3-0) extending its MVAC Grey Tier winning streak to 18 games, the team also earned the 100th career coaching victory for Moser, making him the 13th high school football coach in Portage County history to achieve that milestone.
“I tried to not think about it too much during the week but when it was all said and done, the thing I think about is how many people that helped me get to where I am at so for me, it is so many great assistant coaches that I have had over the years,” the 13-year coach noted.
Ironically enough, Moser’s 100th coaching victory came against his alma matter Southeast.
“I am fortunate that I found the place that was willing to give me a shot and I worked for some great people and with some great people and it has just felt right to me,” he said. “I have been there as an assistant since 2000. It just feels like home, and I am lucky to have been able to accomplish that.”
On Friday, the G-Men struck first as sophomore running back/defensive back Ryder Cain scored on a 15-yard touchdown run, pushing them to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.
After adding another touchdown in the second quarter on a 21-yard run by senior quarterback/defensive back Jack Neikirk to extend the lead to 13-0 as the G-Men missed the extra point, they were primed to assume full control of the game after stopping another Southeast drive.
On Garfield’s third drive of the game, they fumbled the ball near midfield, setting up the Pirates with a short field and Southeast capitalized, when senior tailback/linebacker Joe Sharish found the end zone on a 35-yard rushing touchdown, trimming the lead to 13-7.
Moser acknowledged that Southeast swung the momentum in the blink of an eye, but Garfield responded in kind with an unanswered 28-0 run.
The G-Men reassumed full control, starting with a 31-yard touchdown run by senior wide receiver/tailback/defensive back Brandyn Bogucki which was followed by a successful 2-point conversion. Junior wide receiver/tailback/defensive back Nate Baczwowski kept things rolling by forcing a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, recovering the loose ball, and returning it for a 30-yard touchdown, extending the G-Men’s lead to 28-7.
According to Moser, the G-Men were quick to seize the momentum after Southeast got back in striking distance off the turnover.
“In high school sports, it is an unbelievable thing.,” he said. “We have it all. It is all going for us and then we give it back and let Southeast right back in the game but again give our kids credit, we take the next kickoff and put a drive together and go right back down and score so kind of recapture all that momentum.”
Garfield carried its strong finish in the first half into the beginning of the second half by adding 13 more points to its lead, increasing its advantage to 41-7 to trigger the running clock and claim another league victory.
“It really was a complete team victory,” Moser said. “We were good on offense, and we were good on defense, and I know generally a goal for us is that we want to control the clock and control time of possession; that is the way we like to play, but we also have some kids who can make explosive plays in the running game.”
Although the G-Men outgained Southeast by a 336-117 margin, they only needed to run 30 offensive plays from the line of scrimmage, giving its defense plenty of time to stifle the Pirates’ offense.
“It was one of those nights where they would grind out a few first downs. Then when we would get it, we would strike pretty quickly and they would go right back on offense pretty quickly,” Moser noted.
Garfield’s next stop through the MVAC Grey Tier will take it on the road where it will face off against league foe Liberty at Leopard Stadium in Youngstown on Friday at 7 p.m.
