Garaway football overcomes adversity to edge Norwayne 36-35

Usually when an avalanche of misfortune hits a football team hard on Friday, it comes with an “L” attached to the outcome.

While it is said teams learn more in losses than victories, Jason Wallick’s Garaway Pirates squared off with a host of obstacles Friday, Sept. 5 when facing a terrific Norwayne Bobcats program and managed to escape with a thrilling 36-35 victory that saw them punch in the winning score and complete the two-point conversion with just 1:12 left on the clock.

Garaway had a laundry list of obstacles, the biggest one being the Bobcats, a driven program that is averaging nine wins per season over the past decade of football.

Then there was the turnover issue, one that bit the Pirates on several occasions including one stopping a drive deep in Norwayne territory, another one coughing up a ball that allowed the Bobcats to complete a scoop-and-score from 36 yards out to take a 35-28 lead midway through the fourth quarter, and another one that nearly sealed their fate late, until an 11th-hour defensive stop gave the Pirates one last chance.

Tack on the injury factor that saw the Pirates’ players coming up lame throughout the contest, including losing Capt. Colsen Keller in the first quarter, and that should have been enough to send them reeling.

However, Garaway showed resilience and determination in fighting off those demons and challenges and went on to put together a late drive that helped it pull out a victory.

“Our defense came through and gave us another life, and we drive right down the field and actually scored quicker than we wanted to,” Wallick said of that final drive. “Micah Yoder and Trey Miller made some great plays in that drive, and (quarterback) Grady Miller really showed poise.”

Wallick said once the defense got the ball back, if his team scored, they were going to go for two, and after Grady Miller hit Jaxon Garber for the scoring strike, Christian Raber found Wyatt Reifenschneider for the game-winning two-point conversion.

For Wallick and the Pirates, having this type of challenge on the schedule was imperative because their first two weeks saw them sitting their starters early in the second half during blowout wins.

“This was really important to get challenged like this,” Wallick said. “I told our staff that win or lose on Friday night, we need this game to see where we stand. We had no idea where we were. We had no measuring stick, having played a program that is rebuilding and another that is just starting to build. Norwayne is a great program that has been battle tested twice before coming into this game with quality opponents, so this was almost like a season-opener for us in many ways.”

Having sent seven sophomores out to gain valuable experience during the contest, Wallick said there were plenty of valuable lesson moments for players like Mathew Fry, who racked up 120 rushing yards and two scores, and Wyatt Gordon, who was all over the field on defense making 11 tackles and three sacks. However, Wallick said like the rest of the youthful Pirates, both made their share of miscues, and now they can work on making sure they fix those and become even better.

Wallick said many of the Pirates made youthful and inexperienced mistakes, but he can’t question their heart and determination, something he said you can’t coach in a kid.

“The effort makes up for the mistakes,” Wallick said. “We always say it’s OK to make mistakes as long as you make them with 100% effort. We know all of these guys are going to learn from this and get better.”

Wallick said this game served as a key component to this season as his youthful but talented team learned a whole lot about itself along the way.

“We found a way even though we had to fight through adversity,” Wallick said. “This team’s never-say-die attitude is huge. There’s a lot of simple mental mistakes we can easily correct, but I found out these guys are fighters willing to fight until the very end, and they don’t like to lose. I’ll take those types of guys any day.”