SUGARCREEK, Ohio — Garaway opened its playoff run with a decisive shutout Friday night, Oct. 30, beating Marion Elgin 42-0 in a Division VI, Region 23 first-round game, according to The Times Reporter of New Philadelphia.
The No. 7 seed Pirates (8-3) led 35-0 by halftime and played the second half under the OHSAA running clock, The Times Reporter reported. Quarterback Grady Miller finished 11-of-18 passing for 166 yards and two touchdowns and added two rushing scores on just three carries for 31 yards.
Miller scored on a 7-yard run, threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to senior Colson Kumemerle — the second scoring connection between the two — and tacked on an 8-yard touchdown run for the game’s only second-half points, according to The Times Reporter. Kumemerle caught two touchdown passes in all as Garaway’s offense scored at will in the first half.
The shutout sends No. 10 seed Elgin home and moves Garaway into one of the region’s marquee quarterfinal matchups. The Pirates will travel to No. 2 seed Nelsonville-York for a Division VI, Region 23 quarterfinal on Friday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m., The Times Reporter reported.
Garaway was part of a strong opening night for Tuscarawas County programs: Dover beat Columbus South 41-7 in Division III, Region 11 and Claymont topped Beaver Local 30-12 in Division IV, Region 15, according to The Times Reporter, while unbeaten Indian Valley (9-0) enters the postseason as the No. 1 seed in Region 15 after a first-round bye.
What happens next: Garaway (8-3) plays at Nelsonville-York on Friday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m., with a spot in the regional semifinals on the line.
Garaway’s defense posted the shutout on a night when the Pirates’ offense got the headlines, holding Elgin scoreless a week after the Comets reached the postseason as the region’s No. 10 seed. In the same region, Newcomerstown beat Centerburg 38-22 on Friday, according to The Times Reporter, as the Region 23 bracket narrowed to eight teams.
The win is Garaway’s first of this postseason and sets up the kind of small-school November football the Sugarcreek program has built its reputation on: a balanced offense led by a dual-threat quarterback, a defense that travels, and a community that will follow the team to Nelsonville in force next Friday night.
Photo: David Wilson, CC BY 2.0