Arlington "picks" apart Edon in 75-6 playoff win

BY DAVE HANNEMAN Staff Writer ARLINGTON – Arlington picked apart Edon's pass-happy offense on Friday, the operative word there being "picked." Bryce Gast returned one of his two interceptions for a touchdown, Jason Launder, Austin Frysinger and Grant Riegle picked off passes as well and Arlington scored early, often and consistently in bombing the Blue Bombers 75-6 in Friday's Region 26 playoff game at Doc Castor Field. "Our defensive staff did a great job this week," said Arlington coach Josh McGrain. "Coach (Shane) Cavinee and I were able to go over there and scout them last week (a 34-7 win over Arcadia in the Region 26 opener). They have some good athletes on that side, but we were really dialed in and really focused. We had a good week of prep and played really well tonight." Senior back Noah Thibaut rushed for 231 yards and scored five touchdowns. Connor Foust added 111 yards and two rushing TDs as Arlington had its first 70-point game since a 70-0 win over Hardin Northern in 2012. Friday's 75 points is the second-most single-game total in school history, trailing only an 81-6 win over Liberty-Benton in 1947. More importantly for McGrain, Friday's win may have dispelled any lingering doubts following Week 5 and Week 6 losses to Liberty-Benton (21-14) and Lima Central Catholic (49-26) and rekindled the kind of confidence the Red Devils displayed in starting the season 4-0. One of those four wins was a 43-0 victory over Leipsic (4-3), the team that Arlington (5-2) will face Friday in a regional quarterfinal matchup, also at Doc Castor Field. "I was worried about the week off, about how our kids would respond," McGrain said of the bye week the Red Devils received as the No. 2-seeded team in the region. "But our kids came fired up and ready to go." Were they ever. Looking to dictate tempo and style from the opening kick, Arlington covered 60 yards in just five plays, the last one a 42-yard burst up the middle by Thibaut. It took Arlington three minutes to get its first touchdown. It took just 18 seconds for the Red Devils to get their second. With Bob Olwin, a hugely successful coach who has mentored some of the top all-time passers in Ohio prep football history, calling the shots and Drew Gallehue, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound junior with a great arm, calling the signals, Edon was going to air it out. Gallehue did complete his first throw, an out route to Caden Nester. But Netser got popped by Launder and Caden Lafferty, the ball popped loose and it popped right into the hands of Gast, who took it back 45 yards for the score. A trend was beginning to emerge, and it would be overpowering. Two plays after Frysinger picked off a pass, Foust scored on a 10-yard burst to put Arlington up 21-0. Riegle's interception set up a short drive capped by Thibaut's 9-yard run and, after stopping Edon on downs, Foust went 55 yards up the gut on a trap play. With two minutes left in the first quarter, Arlington already led 35-0. Following Launder's interception a minute in to the second quarter, Thibaut got some good blocks on the right side of the offensive line, got two good blocks down field, got to the corner and got gone, racing 93 yards untouched. Gast went 8 yards to put Arlington up 49-0 late in the second quarter and, after another defense stop in which Edon went for it on fourth-and-12 near midfield, Thibaut covered 60 yards in two plays to put Arlington up 56-0. Thibaut added his fifth touchdown in the third quarter. With subs playing most of the second half, freshmen Brayden Agapiou and Caden Russell rounded out Arlington's scoring. Arlington churned out 506 yards total offense, 469 of it coming on the ground. "That's kind of what we do," McGrain said. "I think we won the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and, obviously, that was the difference in the game." Gallehue threw six touchdown passes in one game this season, and completed 31 of 59 passes in another. Looking to throw on every snap, Gallehue did complete 22 of 41 passes for 248 yards, including 28- and 21-yard connections to Ethan Steinke and a 20-yard TD pass to Hayden Dye for the Bombers lone score in the final minute of the first half. Gast would intercept Gallehue's first pass of the second half, though. Jack Bateson sacked Gallehue twice and Grady Romick, Chris Cortez and Lafferty were in on at least one sack each in keeping Edon's quarterback – and the Bombers offense – grounded. Edon 0 &emsp;&emsp;6 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;– &emsp;&emsp;6 Arlington &emsp;&emsp; 35 &emsp;&emsp;21 &emsp;&emsp;13 &emsp;&emsp;6 &emsp;&emsp;– &emsp;&emsp;75 FIRST QUARTER ARL – Thibaut, 41 run (Frysinger kick) ARL – Gast, 45 interception return (Frysinger kick) ARL – Foust, 10 run (Frysinger kick) ARL – Thibaut, 9 run (Frysinger kick) ARL – Foust, 55 run (Frysinger kick) SECOND QUARTER ARL – Thibaut, 93 run (Frysinger kick) ARL – Gast, 8 run (Frysinger kick) ARL – Thibaut, 40 run (Frysinger kick) EDON – Dye 20 pass from Gallehue (pass failed) THIRD QUARTER ARL – Thibaut, 9 run (Frysinger kick) ARL – Agapiou, 48 (kick failed) FOURTH QUARTER ARL – Russell 1 run (kick failed) &emsp;&emsp;Edon Arl First Downs &emsp;&emsp;14 &emsp;&emsp;22 Rushes-Yards 4-(-28) 39-469 Passing Yards 300 &emsp;&emsp;73 Pass Comp-Att-Int &emsp;&emsp;25-52-5 3-4-0 Punts-Avg. &emsp;&emsp;4-19.3 0-00 Fumbles-Lost 0-0 &emsp;&emsp;0-0 Penalties-Yards 9-60&emsp;&emsp;6-55 Individual statistics RUSHING – Arlington, Thibaut 12-231, Foust 8-111, Agapiou 2-49, Gast 8-47, Russell 5-35. Edon, Gallehue 3 (-27). PASSING – Arlington, Price, 3-4-0, 37 yards. Edon, Gallehue 22-41-4, 248 yards; Nester 3-11-0, 52 yards. RECEIVING – Arlington, Launder 2-28. Edon, Steinke 4-88, Nester 6-61, Dye 5-54, Kiess 6-41, Towers 1-37.