By Craig Hull
The Joplin Globe
GALENA, Kan. —
Tyler VanCleave spent most of the postgame making sure he thanked everyone possible for their effort Friday night.
When you’re a sophomore making your first varsity start, it was imperative to share the credit.
From the offensive line, to the backs and receivers, Galena’s 5-foot-10, 185-pound quarterback made sure to name them all following the Bulldogs’ 48-14 season opening victory over Southeast at Abbey Field.
Of course, it was easy for VanCleave to share the credit after completing 9 of 16 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns with another 49 yards rushing and two more touchdowns.
“I admit, I was nervous early in the game and, honestly, I felt like I was trying to do too much,’’ VanCleave said. “But the offensive line, they kept telling me to relax, they had my back and that we were going to make some plays.’’
The Galena offense came to life late in the first quarter scoring on four straight possessions — two on big plays — to open a 28-0 halftime lead.
Galena, after turning the ball over on its initial possession, scored its first touchdown on a 10-play, 55-yard drive with VanCleave scoring on a yard sneak with 3:31 left in the first quarter.
Following a Southeast three and out, VanCleave’s second completion of the game was to senior wing Codie Perry who ran a drag route underneath the Southeast defense and outran the secondary for a 65-yard touchdown with 1:56 left in the quarter.
Another Southeast three and out gave Galena the ball back with seven seconds left at the Bulldog 20. VanCleave connected with Perry again, this time on a deep cross route, resulting in a the 80-yarder for a 20-0 lead.
Perry, a 6-0, 185 senior, caught four passes for 172 yards with the touchdown receptions accounting for 145 receiving yards. He added another 45 yards on five carries.
“We have some guys, several of them actually, who can make plays,’’ VanCleave said. “The most important thing is to make sure we get the ball to them because the line is going to do their job, they always do.’’
Another target for VanCleave was Zach Gougler, a 6-4 240 junior tight end, who caught four passes for 96 yards including one athletic one-handed grab and run and another highlight reel play where he dodged several defenders during a 27-yard first half completion.
Sophomore fullback Trenton Little added a yard touchdown run in the second quarter as Galena built a 28-0 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, the Bulldogs added a trio of touchdowns — a 7-yard run by Little, a 30-yard scramble by VanCleave on fourth down and a 3-yard run by junior fullback Tylor Albright.
“We looked at what they were doing and they had eight guys in the box and we’re going to have to throw the ball,’’ Galena head coach Beau Sarwinski said. “We know (Tyler) could play well and do a lot of good things. We have a lot of confidence in him and he is going to continue to improve.
“We made some mistakes, nothing that we cannot correct, but I thought we did a good job controlling the line of scrimmage both on offense and defense.”
Southeast broke the shutout in the fourth quarter when Powell connected on the first of two touchdowns to sophomore receiver Bryce Burdette. The first was a 9-yarder on fourth down with 6:39 left in the game. The second came with 27 seconds left when Powell lofted a jump ball for Burdette in the right corner.
Powell finished 13 of 29 for 116 yards and Burdette had four of the receptions for 72.
