Mason Smith ‘26 had 6 solo tackles, 2 batted passes, 1 forced fumble, and an interception. “We played as a team and kept our fails at a minimum,” Smith said “We knew it was a must-win game!”
On Friday, October 4 The Galena Pirate Football team played the Fulton Steamers. The Pirates played a hard, competitive, and high-spirited game, the final score was 28-7. Travis Temperly ‘26 had 7 solo tackles; Gus Nack ‘26 had 13 tackles, the most from the Pirates, and Max Schultz ‘26 had 4 solo tackles,1 tackle for loss, 1 interception, and 2 batted passes. “I was super happy when I got the interception,” Schultz said, “I was really motivated to keep playing and play harder.”
At the beginning of the first quarter, both teams were fighting to score the first touchdown of the night, but neither team could find the pressure to score. That’s until Fulton’s player, Skylier Crooks, ran the ball 2 yards, giving the Steamers the first touchdown, leaving 2 minutes and 17 seconds left in the quarter. Neither the Pirates nor the Steamers got the chance to score again in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Roman Romer ‘26 got The Pirates their first touchdown of the night by running 6 yards; Romer snuck through an opening in the line, ran towards the end zone, and dove into the end zone securing the touchdown with about 9 minutes left in the quarter. “It felt great knowing especially knowing that we needed one to tie it back up,” Romer said, ”And knowing we needed a win”
19 seconds into the third quarter, Romer ran 50 yards getting The Pirates their second touchdown. “It felt great getting that 50-yard run, especially getting it early in the half knowing we needed a big play to shift the momentum entirely our way,” Romer said. The rest of the quarter The Steamers fought to get another touchdown to catch up to the Pirates but were unsuccessful.
During the fourth quarter, The Pirates got another touchdown by Romer, with 7 minutes and 32 seconds left. The Steamers had the ball at The Pirates’ 2-yard line, they snapped the ball and threw, but Mason Smith intercepted the ball and ran 98 yards getting the Galena Pirates the last touchdown of the night. “It was surreal and I didn’t think the ball was gonna be my way!” The stands cheered for Smith who secured the win over the Steamers.
With this win, Galena’s ranking is 4th in the Conference and 4-2 overall. The team will travel to Dakota on Friday, October 11 to take on the Indians. If the Pirates win this game they will make it to the playoffs. The game starts at 7 pm.
