NELSONVILLE, Ohio — No. 7-seeded Garaway turned Boston Field into a track meet Friday night, upsetting No. 2 Nelsonville-York 49-28 in a Division VI, Region 23 regional quarterfinal. The final was confirmed on scoreboards published by The Columbus Dispatch, The Ironton Tribune, the Mansfield News Journal, the Zanesville Times Recorder and The Times Reporter, and the Athens Messenger reported the game in detail.
Garaway’s Matthew Frey was the difference. The Athens Messenger reported that Frey accounted for more than 200 yards and scored four of the Pirates’ seven touchdowns — a 2-yard run in the first quarter, a second score in the final seconds of the quarter that tied the game 14-14, the go-ahead touchdown in the second quarter after Nelsonville-York was stopped on short yardage in Garaway territory, and a fourth touchdown in the second half that restored a two-score lead.
The Athens Messenger reported that the two teams combined for more than 950 yards and 11 touchdowns with just two punts all night. Garaway rushed for more than 200 yards as a team, and its halftime cushion came on a trick play: after the Pirates recovered a short kickoff, Wyatt Reifenschneider caught a 16-yard touchdown pass that sent Garaway to the locker room up 28-14, according to the Athens Messenger.
Nelsonville-York’s offense kept answering until it ran out of time. The Athens Messenger reported that quarterback Cameron Sullivan threw for 376 yards and broke the school’s single-season passing yards record in his final game, with Walker Stone catching two touchdown passes, including a 53-yarder, and Weston Wheatley and Grant Elliott adding one each. The Buckeyes had opened the game with a surprise onside kick that Sullivan kicked and recovered himself, a gamble head coach Rusty Richards told the Athens Messenger he had not called in five years.
The dagger came on the first play of the fourth quarter, when Grady Miller found a wide-open AJ Miller for a 53-yard touchdown that rebuilt Garaway’s three-score lead, according to the Athens Messenger. “He’s a tough runner, but we just didn’t go low,” Richards told the Athens Messenger of Frey. “Their offensive line moved us and made gaps all night.”
Garaway improves to 9-3, while Nelsonville-York finishes 9-2. The Athens Messenger reported the Buckeyes graduate seven seniors, a class Richards told the Athens Messenger once put together a 24-game winning streak and helped reset the program’s standard.
Garaway advances to the Region 23 semifinal on Friday, November 13, at No. 6 Waterford, according to the Athens Messenger. Waterford earned its spot the same night, beating No. 3 West Jefferson 21-14 in a result confirmed by The Columbus Dispatch and The Ironton Tribune.
Photo: Tim Kiser, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons