Brock Netter, Editor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by Holzer Health System.
CHILLICOTHE — Unioto dominated every aspect of Thursday’s Division III district quarterfinal.
The Shermans played smothering defense, controlled ball possession for the majority of the game, created chances and posted more than 10 shot attempts on target.
Gallia Academy (14-3-2), on the other hand, only had one shot on target.
And that was all it needed.
Colton Reed found an opening and connected for the Blue Devils. And they rode a smothering defensive effort of their own to a 1-0 victory over the Shermans (10-6-2) to extend their season.
CREDIT: Brock Netter/SOSA
“We knew this was going to be a tough game, and really the whole Division III district is tough with how many good teams there are,” Gallia Academy coach Cory Camden said. “The main focus was making sure we knew where [Unioto’s] Elliott [Allsop] was at all times. He’s such a great player and a tough cover. They’re such a good program with talented players and very well-coached. We took something that we saw Jackson did against them, tried it out, and it worked out for us.”
Unioto was on the attack early, finding different ways to get into the final third of the field, only to miss shots high or just outside the net.
The Blue Devils spent the majority of the first half defending its side of the field, however, they made the one opporunity they had to score count — and it was the eventual difference.
At the 17:34 mark, the ball ended up as Reed’s foot and with a defender out of position, he struck and connected with the back of the net to give his team a 1-0 lead.
PHOTOS: Images from Gallia Academy’s district quarterfinal win over Unioto
“I made a late run to surprise them. They had a bad touch on the ball, so I ran through and clipped it,” Reed said. “It was definitely a momentum-changer, one that we really needed since we were playing a little slow.”
From that point on, all eyes were centered on the Blue Devil defense.
For the next 57 minutes, Gallia Academy sat back in its own territory while Unioto turned up its aggressiveness to try and equalize.
Any time the Blue Devils managed to get a touch on the ball, rarely did they go on the attack, unless there was nothing but grass in front of them.
Instead, they simply just cleared the ball, allowed time to continue to tick and reset their defense.
Unioto had a couple of chances via corner kicks late in the game, but ultimately nothing came from them as the final seconds ticked away.
“The second half was a great defensive half. I’m just sitting and watching the time go down and getting more excited,” Gallia Academy goalie Maddux Delaney said. “I had a lot of trust in my teammates, and they did a good job getting the ball cleared out. Seeing the ball get cleared only keeps the energy high and gets us going even more.”
As Unioto’s season comes to a close, Gallia Academy advances to a Division III district semifinal on Wednesday against Warren at Logan High School.
That game will start at 6 p.m.
“The TV show ‘Survivor’ has a motto, which is ‘Outwit, outplay and outlast.’ That’s what tournament play is all about,” Camden said. “This is a new group of guys making something special happen and making a run. We’ve had our ups and downs, but we’ve figured out this far and it’s special to make it to this point.”
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