By Staff

            CANTON – On Friday, Canton/Galva began their hopeful march to an 8-Man Division II state title by hosting St. Paul in the first round of the playoffs and promptly hammered the visitors with a 60-0 shutout win.

            The Eagles are now 9-0 for the season and ranked number two behind Axtell in their class. They will play host on Friday to Hanover in the regional playoff game. Hanover comes into the game 5-4 after winning 62-14 over Downs on Thursday.

            It was the Garrett Maltbie show in the first quarter as he threw three touchdown passes to Cason Mastre covering nine-, thirty-three, and 26 yards while getting a fourth score on a 52-yard run giving the Eagles a commanding 30-0 lead by the end of 12 minutes of play.

            Maltbie connected with Mastre again for a scoring pass and catch from 25 yards out to start the second quarter. Maltbie added two scoring runs of thirteen and three yards with Ryder Norstrom scoring from eight yards out to close out the scoring and the game by halftime with the 60-0 victory.

            The Eagles were led on offense by Maltbie who totaled 232 of the teams 342 yards on 26 plays. Maltbie passed for 152 yards by completing seven-of-eight pass attempts and ran four times for eighty yards. Jayden Barnett contributed 37 yards rushing on five carries and Wyatt Collins had 34 on two totes.

            Mastre accounted for six receptions covering 145 yards.

            Defensively, Canton/Galva held St. Paul to just two first downs and only 44 yards of offense on 25 snaps. The visitors only completed one pass on five attempts for just two yards.

            TJ Koehn and Wyatt Collins each recorded five tackles with Lane McMannis, Ryder Norstrom, and Garrett Maltbie each had four. As a team the Eagles recorded five tackles for a loss of yardage and a pair of quarterback sacks.

CANTON/GALVA EAGLES hosting St. Paul

SCORING: St. Paul 0-0-0-0=0; EAGLES 30-30-0-0=60

1st Quarter:

EAGLES (10:02): Cason Mastre on a 9-yard pass play from Garrett Maltbie (2-Point Conversion – Garrett Maltbie pass to Cason Mastre) 0-8

EAGLES (6:25): Cason Mastre on a 33-yard pass play from Garrett Maltbie (2-Point Conversion – Garrett Maltbie Run) 0-16

EAGLES (4:59): Garrett Maltbie on a 52-yard run (2-Point Conversion Failed) 0-22

EAGLES (2:33): Cason Mastre on a 26-yard pass play from Garrett Maltbie (2-Point Conversion – Lane McMannis Run) 0-30

2nd Quarter:

EAGLES (11:38): Cason Mastre on a 25-yard pass play from Garrett Maltbie (2-Point Conversion – Garrett Maltbie pass to Jory Ratzlaff) 0-38

EAGLES (10:38): Garrett Maltbie on a 13-yard run (2-Point Conversion – Garrett Maltbie pass to Nick Evans) 0-46

EAGLES (10:23): Ryder Norstrom on an 8-yard run (2-Point Conversion Failed) 0-52

EAGLES (4:59): Garrett Maltbie on a 3-yard run (2-Point Conversion – Jayden Barnett Run) 0-60

3rd Quarter:

No Scoring due to game being over by 45-point rule.

4th Quarter:

No Scoring due to game being over by 45-point rule.

TEAM STATS:

St. Paul: 1st Downs – 2; Total Offense – 25 for 44; Passing – 1/5 for 2, 1 interception; Rushing – 20 for 42; Fumbles – 3/3; Penalties – 2/10; Time of Possession – 14:18.

EAGLES: 1st Downs – 17: Total Offense – 26 for 342; Passing – 7/8 for 152, 4 scores; Rushing – 18 for 190; Fumbles – 0/0; Penalties – 2/25; Time of Possession – 21:42.

CANTON/GALVA EAGLE INDIVIDUAL STATS:

Passing: Garrett Maltbie – 7/8 for 152, 4 scores.

Rushing: Garrett Maltbie – 4 for 80, 3 scores; Jayden Barnett – 5 for 37; Wyatt Collins – 2 for 34; Lane McMannis – 3 for 31; Ryder Norstrom – 1 for 8, 1 score.

Receiving: Cason Mastre – 6 for 145, 4 scores; Ryder Norstrom – 1 for 7.

Defense: TJ Koehn – 5, 4 solo, 0.5 for loss; Wyatt Collins – 5, 3 solo; Garrett Maltbie – 4, 3 solo; Lane McMannis – 4, 4 solo, 1 sack, 1 for loss; Ryder Norstrom – 4, 2 solo, 1.5 for loss; Preston Minson – 3, 3 solo, 1 sack, 2 for loss; Nick Evans – 2, 1 solo, 1 interception; Cason Mastre – 1.

(The Staff covering McPherson County Activities can be reached by email at crossdovewriter@gmail.com)