GALLIPOLIS — Drenched in sweat, caked with mud and overflowing with emotion, Mike Eddy trudged out of the quagmire also known as Memorial Field to ring the victory bell following Gallia Academy’s 27-10 win over Chillicothe on Friday night.

The rookie head coach had tears in his eyes as he and the Blue Devils and the vocal horde that is the GAHS student section made their way toward the bell; the students chanting “Eddy! Eddy! Eddy!” to celebrate his first victory as head coach and the Devils’ first win of 2009.

“Oh, this feels so good,” Eddy said just seconds prior to ringing the bell. “These kids have worked so hard and been through so much. They never gave up. They deserve this.

“Hey, I gotta go ring that bell!”

“That bell” has been strangely silent since Oct. 10, 2008, when GAHS thumped Wellston 42-20.

A sense of relief seemed to sweep over Memorial Field as the clocked ticked down the final seconds of Friday’s game, which saw Austin Wilson explode for 248 total yards and two touchdowns.

The junior electrified the Memorial Field faithful from the get-go, returning the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 GAHS lead on Homecoming 2009.

Wilson whipped the crowd into a frenzy again in the fourth quarter when he took a handoff from Ethan Moore and darted 71 yards for his second score of the night.

All told, Wilson finished with 130 yards rushing on just six carries, and rolled up 118 return yards.

The Blue Devils’ defense took advantage of the bog-like conditions of their homefield and stymied Chillicothe’s offense for the majority of the evening, forcing three turnovers, one of which led to a GAHS touchdown. Jared Gravely recovered two fumbles and Dalton Jarrell had an interception for the Devils. Gravely sacked Cavs’ quarterback Shay Netter twice, the second with an assist from teammate Xavier Lewis.

The Cavaliers finished with 238 total yards — 10 less than Wilson’s individual total.

Chillicothe (1-6, 0-3 SEOAL) failed to generate any momentum on its first possession following Wilson’s return of the opening kickoff, but pieced together a long scoring drive that consumed the final eight minutes of the first quarter. Ohio State football signee Drew Basil booted a 28-yard field to cut the deficit to 7-3 with 27 seconds left after the Cavs’ offense stalled at the GAHS 11.

Gallia Academy (1-6, 1-3 SEOAL) came back with two scores in the second quarter to run its lead to 20-3 at halftime. Nate Allison scored on a 5-yard run at the 6:35 mark to put GAHS up 14-3. Wilson helped fuel the 49-yard drive with a 33-yard run.

The first of Gravely’s two fumble recoveries set up the Blue Devils’ third score of the game. Chillicothe’s Marty Dunn put the ball on the soggy field at the Cavs’ 7 and Gravely found the football at the 8.

On the next play, Moore zipped a pass to Jared Golden in the right corner of the end zone with 12 seconds remaining in the half and GAHS found itself sitting on a 17-point cushion.

Wilson added to his big statistical night early in the fourth quarter, scoring on a 71-yard run at the 10:28 mark of the final period.

Chillicothe finally found the end zone with just 2:18 remaining in the game. Netter engineered a 10-play, 96-yard drive that ate up four of the final six minutes of the game. He hit Donta Thompson from five yards out for a touchdown to cap the long march.

For the game, Netter connected on 14-of-22 passing attempts for 167 yards.

Gallia Academy finished with 184 total yards of offense, 181 of which came on the ground. In addition to Wilson’s big night, Allison chipped in with 43 yards rushing.

The home portion of the 2009 season concludes Friday when Gallia Academy plays host to Columbus Bishop Hartley. Hartley (5-2) comes to Memorial Field having lost its last two games.