CENTENARY — August has certainly been a month of celebration for Gallia Academy High School.

The Blue Devils’ soccer squad kept the party going Tuesday with what could only be described as a “goal-a-bration,” hammering South Point High School 11-0 in a record-setting 2009 season opener at the GAHS Soccer Complex.

The 11 goals in a single match set a GAHS record as did the 11-goal margin of victory. The Blue Devils also fired away at the South Point goal a record 65 times.

“It was a nice way to start the season for a change,” said GAHS Head Coach Mike Dyer. “The players played well. They did what we worked on in the preseason. They stepped up. We had some first-game jitters, but we got those out of the way and started working on what we needed to do.”

It took the Blue Devils less than three minutes to shake off those jitters. Sophomore Jerod Lester recorded the first goal of 2009 in the third minute of play.

The goal-a-bration hit a fever pitch during a five-minute span that saw the Blue Devils find the net four times. Senior Jeremy Ward got the party started with 28:40 remaining in the first half, pouncing on a loose ball and driving a left-footed blast into the lower right corner of the net to give GAHS a 2-0 lead.

Less than a minute later, senior Corey Eberhard recorded the first of his two goals on the afternoon to pad the lead at 3-0. Forty-seven seconds later, junior Cody Robinson made it 4-0 in favor of GAHS.

After a three-minute scoring drought, senior Zeke Maher’s flick-on header gave the Blue Devils a 5-0 cushion. Classmate Josh Jackson swung a perfect cross into the penalty area from the left wing and Maher’s flick found a home in the upper left corner of the net.

Eberhard closed out the first-half scoring with 11:08 to play on a well-taken unassisted play that left GAHS with a 6-0 advantage.

Maher and Robinson teamed up to keep the party going in the second half. Jackson played a corner kick from the right side that Robinson nodded down and Maher redirected into the net to push the Blue Devils’ lead to 7-0 with 33:20 to play.

Eberhard tallied an assist on Lawrence Wedemyer’s goal five minutes later. The pair worked a give-and-go at the top of the South Point penalty area with Wedemyer taking the return ball and slotting it home to give GAHS an 8-0 lead.

Robinson found the net for a second time to push the lead to 9-0 with 21:11 remaining as he weaved his way through the box and battled past two South Point defenders to slip the ball into the net.

Lester gave the Devils a double digit cushion less than two minutes later, and seniors Terry Smith and David Stout combined for goal number 11 with Smith doing the honors at the 7:15 mark.

GAHS kept the Pointers leashed in their own end of the field for the vast majority of the 80 minutes. Blue Devils goalkeeper Allie Troester faced just one shot and was credited with a save on the play.

While excited about getting that first win of the season under his belt, Dyer emphasized the need to stay focused on the task at hand.

“We’ve got a tough season ahead and hopefully this is a step in the right direction,” he said.

Gallia Academy faces crosstown rival Ohio Valley Christian at 5:45 p.m. on Thursday on the Defenders’ home field. That will be the season opener for OVCS.