GALENA — It wasn’t pretty, but for Galena, it was good enough.
At times Friday night, the Pirates (8-1, 7-1 in the NUIC-Upstate) were their own worst enemy, incurring killer penalties and committing a big turnover in the red zone.
But in the end, Galena was good enough, topping Polo 21-7.
“I thought we shot themselves in the foot a couple times,” Galena coach Ed Freed said. “But Polo’s a good team, and they’re going to do that to teams.”
MILLEDGEVILLE — There will be a new No. 1 team in Class 1A next week.
The No. 3 Missiles shocked No. 1 Galena by rallying from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to win, 22-16, Friday and put themselves in the driver’s seat for a top ranking in the state and a conference title.
Milledgeville quarterback Kirk Engelkens had several key runs down the stretch, but said that when the Pirates built their 10-point lead in the beginning of the second half, he was worried the team was tiring out already.
GALENA — The Pirates easily handled East Dubuque, sending them back home on the short end of a 34-8 game.
Galena had a fourth-and-one at its own 41 on its initial drive of the game, and coach Ed Freed decided to keep the offense in. Matt Hillard (17 carries 112 yards and one touchdown) burst up the middle for three to keep Galena rolling. He then finished the 11-play drive with a 10-yard run to open the scoring.
FREEPORT — Galena expected Freeport Aquin to compete Friday night, but it probably didn’t expect the Bulldogs to be the first to score within the first six minutes of the game.
But after a Cody Gallagher (108 yards on 21 carries) 61-yard touchdown run, the Bulldogs did just that.
“That was definitely a wake up call for us tonight,” Galena running back Matt Hillard said. “But Aquin is a good team and they were going to come at us hard tonight.”
