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| Shelby's offense was dominant in a win over Galion with 462 yards of offense. (Photo: Chuck Cordes/Ohsfbmedia.com) |
MANSFIELD, Ohio - The Whippets dominate Galion to advance to the OHSAA playoffs after defeating Galion 41-7.
In the early stages of the game, Shelby took control as they competed for a spot in the state semifinal. With the stakes high in this Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference rematch, they excelled in the front line, enabling the remarkable quarterback Brayden DeVito to showcase his skill.
"Credit to my teammates around me," said DeVito. He successfully entered the end zone twice during the first quarter, scoring with 8:08 remaining on a 7-yard touchdown pass to Brady Bowman, taking a 7-0 lead. Meanwhile, Galion's possession fell short, forcing them to punt.
In the following possession, Shelby advanced the ball to within the Galian 30-yard line after falling short of a first down, and they attempted a field goal that veered right of the upright, with 6:45 remaining in the quarter.
He then connected again with the same receiver for a 37-yard touchdown with 1:49 left in the quarter, resulting in a 14-0 advantage after a successful PAT.
In the second quarter, we would see Galion put up some defense and see the end zone for the first time in the game. After holding Shelby to a couple of forced punts and some self-inflicted penalties, they would manage to score with 6:35 left in the half. Ayden Schmidt would connect with Dominic Carpetta on a 12-yard pass and a successful PAT.
That would be the only score of the game for the Tigers.
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| Galion defender twin Kurt Hay makes a stop on Brayden DeVito. (Photo: Chuck Cordes/Ohsfbmedia.com) |
Galion found themselves trailing by a touchdown before another score from DeVito, a 12-yard reception to junior Kayden Paz, which increased the lead back to 14. And take a 21-7 lead into halftime.
After the half, they continued to dominate; however, from a defensive perspective, they accumulated numerous tackles from both the defensive line and linebacker positions. They would have a lot of tackles from the defensive line and linebacker positions.
Brice Sampel would lead the defense with 10 tackles, and he had help from his teammates, Sam Gwirtz and defensive lineman Carter Kessler, combining for 20 tackles out of 44 tackles for the whole team, and one sack.
"I mean, our coaches came in and gave us a great game plan, and you know we trusted them and they trusted us and we just went out there and made plays," said Sampel.
DeVito's night would not end there as he would score on the ground on a 7-yard scamper into the endzone, making it 27-7 after a failed PAT at 9:41 of the third quarter.
His last touchdown of the night came during the fourth quarter when he found Bowman again for the third time with a 15-yard receiving touchdown to put the nail in the coffin, as he would end the night with 400 all-purpose yards and 6 tackles on defense.
"Once again, it's brotherhood we trust one another, and we just make plays, fly around," Kessler said.
That defense would lead to the last score on the boards for Shelby, a fantastic pick-six from Michael Shepherd from the stout defensive line.
The Whippets are your 2025 Division IV Region 14 Champions and will play Indian Hill in the state semifinal game with a site TBD.
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| The Whippets celebrate their win with student section after defeating Galion in the OHSAA football playoffs. (Gene Simmons/Ohsfbmedia.com) |
"You know we wanted to come out and kinda attack them, you know, obviously to get Brayden going and to get Bowman going, our two best guys," said Mahaney. "They scored 34 points on us the first time, and you know we kinda wanted to play a little bit better defensively."
This is the second time in program history that Shelby has earned a spot in the state semifinal game, the first coming in 2017.
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