On a rare night when Eagles matched up against Eagles, Canton-Galva hung tough but ultimately fell short of defeating Olpe on the road last Tuesday night, 21-13.

At stake was an opportunity to face third-ranked Pittsburg-Colgan in Saturday’s Class 2-1A regional round.

After falling behind 7-0 in the first quarter, CGHS came up less than a yard shy of converting a fourth-and-short to start the second period.

Three plays later, Olpe wide receiver Bradley Argabright trotted into the end zone for a 40-yard catch-and-run set up by a play action pass. The point-after made it 14-0 at 7:38.

A solid kick return by Bryant Baldwin helped turn the tide. Five straight runs for positive yardage tipped the field position advantage in Canton-Galva’s favor.

Then, on the eighth play of the series, Ted Regehr drilled a pass to Brett Williams for a 21-yard gain, setting up a 5-yard touchdown run by Tony Arendt with 1:25 left in the half.

With their lead cut in half, the hosts tried to answer the challenge. After several short gains and a pass-interference call against Canton-Galva, Andrew West­brook nearly picked off a poor throw along the Olpe sideline at midfield. Olpe dodged a bullet when the ball bounced away, as Westbrook had a clear lane to the end zone.

Late in the third quarter, Westbrook broke a 28-yard run that set up a 3-yard touchdown plunge by Regehr early in the fourth.

But Olpe prevented the visitors from tying the score, with Linden Stueve getting a hand on the extra-point kick.

A 39-yard kickoff return was the biggest play of the ensuing drive, and Olpe’s third score—a 3-yard touchdown run with 6:39 left—made it 21-13.

The score came in the middle of a sequence of five quick penalties, the final four of which went against Canton-Galva.

An equipment violation cost Olpe 5 yards, but an encroachment call advanced the ball inside the visitor’s 30-yard line.

Then Olpe’s Josh Lambert picked up the first down on a short run, and saw the ball spotted at the Canton-Galva 3 after a facemask call.

No foul was called on the touchdown run, but a second encroachment call cost CGHS half the distance to the goal on the point-after try.

An illegal block wiped out a 37-yard kickoff return by Baldwin on the next play, and a personal foul on the fifth play of the possession brought up second-and-22, forcing Canton-Galva to punt with 3:44 left.

Even after the rash of unfavorable calls, the CGHS defense collected its composure and forced a three-and-out to give the offense another chance.

But Argabright snuffed out the opportunity by intercepting a deflected pass with 1:59 left, and Olpe ran out the clock.

With the loss, Canton-Galva ended its season at 4-6.

Next season Canton-Galva is projected to move to eight-man football.

Other schools

Goessel—The Bluebirds season ended in a 44-26 loss in bi-district play at Pretty Prarie.

Peabody-Burns—The Warriors season ended in a 28-27 bi-district loss at Solomon.

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