|
Tug
Valley won its first game in two years, handing
Twin Valley a 26-15, season-opening loss in an
interstate battle of Panthers Friday night at Twin
Valley Middle School.
Twin Valley spotted its West Virginia opponent
a quick
12-0 lead and didn’t start a comeback until the second
half, when Wyatt Justus ran for a pair of touchdowns.
"We took them for granted because they
didn’t win a
game last year," Twin Valley coach Charlie Vandyke
said. "They went up 12-0 early We did a pretty good
job after that. We moved the ball We just couldn’t get
over the hump in the second half.
"Every game is tough for us. We make a lot
of mental
mistakes. We have to come out ready to play in the
first half."
Justus ran for 144 yards, with most of it
coming in
the second half. The senior halfback’s first touchdown
run early in the third quarter helped get Twin Valley
within 12-7.
Justus’s second TD run, followed by a
two-point
conversion pass from Jory Rife to Matthew Baldwin, got
the home within 18-15.
Two missed opportunities on defense were
followed by
Tug Valley touchdowns.
On one occasion, the Twin Valley defense
had an
apparent stop when a third down roughing the passer
penalty gave Tug Valley a first down.
After Twin Valley got within 18-15 in the
fourth
quarter, the Panthers defense forced an apparent Tug
Valley punt. During a timeout Twin Valley lined up in
an attempt to go after the punter.
After the timeout, Tug Valley put the
quarterback back
under center and caught the Twin Valley defense
off-guard. A long pass set up a touchdown that
effectively put the game out of Twin Valley’s reach.
"We had the momentum," Vandyke
said. "Then we made a
mistake and let it get away. We need to cut down on
our mental mistakes."
For more of the story, see the print
edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at newsstands now.
For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer,
call 276-935-2123 today.
|
|
Wave Drops Opener to Clintwood,
40-14 |
|
by Lloyd Combs
The Front Row
Clintwood
marched right down the field on the opening
drive of the game. It went downhill for Grundy the
rest of the way.
Michael Ramey and Alec Osborne each
scored two
touchdowns as Clintwood ran past the Golden Wave,
40-14, in non-district play Friday night at Ralph
Cummins Stadium.
Clintwood drove 80 yards in 13 plays on
the opening
possession of the game. Osborne went the final two
yards for his first score and added a 12-yard TD run
with 1:34 remaining in the half.
The Greenwave took advantage of a series
of mistakes
by Grundy after that, from missed tackles and missed
assignments on defense and four turnovers on offense.
Ramey made some nice moves, but was
virtually
untouched on TD runs of 36 and 48 yards, respectively.
Chris Robinson found Heath Counts
wide open in the end
zone for a 31-yard touchdown pass, all in the second
period, as the Greenwave built a 34-0 halftime lead.
"The first time they had the ball
took it right down
the field, "Grundy coach Greg Rowe said. "They
manhandled us in the line, basically. I don’t if we
were timid or shell-shocked or what after that.
"There was no reason for them to be
that way.
Clintwood’s young, too. We didn’t hit the hole or got
there late. It was a bad night all the way around. We
missed plenty of tackles in the backfield. A lot of
times we seemed to be
out of position or we weren’t
getting there (in time)."
Clintwood controlled the line of
scrimmage from the
start, and it maintained superior field position.
After its opening drive, Clintwood
started its next
eight possessions, on average, on the Grundy 40-yard
line.
For more of the story, see the print
edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at newsstands now.
For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer,
call 276-935-2123 today. |
|
|
