|
It was the classic football question for many years. You score a late touchdown, now do you go for the tie or the win. Trimble Coach Paul Culver was in that prediciment near the end of the 1978 Trimble/Nelsonville-York match up at Polley Field. The night started out with both defenses holding the first quarter to a scoreless shut out. As the second quarter started Trimble punter Jeff McClelland seemed to give the Tomcat defense a huge advantage by pinning the Buckeyes on their two yard line. The kick was good and the Bucks led 7-0 On first down, Trimble sent an inside linebacker on a run blitz, and Nelsonville-York's Jim Robson found a seam and went 98-yards for the touchdown. Trimble answered back with a 62 yard drive capped by a nine yard Mike Roback run and tied the game at seven all. Just before the end of the half Nelsonville-York's Dave Boston Jr. broke the tie with a score from a yard out, the extra point was no good and the Buckeyes took a 13-7 lead to the half. The second half opened with Trimble fumbling the kickoff and Nelsonville-York recovering. Boston again scored on the drive and Jim Robson ran in the two point conversion to make the score 21-7. As the third quarter closed, Trimble's McClelland found the endzone from a yard away and the score was 21-14. In the fourth quarter the Tomcats were able to gain a ten yard touchdown pass from Roback to Scott Bycofski to make the score 21-20. Then Culver had to answer that age old question, tie or win. After the game was over Culver gave an explaination to his choice. "It's better to lose a championship than tie one." On the two-point conversion, Culver called for a halfback pass. Before McClelland had the opportunity to choose run or pass, Nelsonville-York's Tom Pritchard took him down. Trimble did have one more opportunity, but an interception in the closing seconds of the game spoiled the bid.
Jim Robson's 98 yard touchdown (longest in series history) click HERE,
Tom Pritchard's stop of Jeff McClelland click HERE
Team Stats:
First Downs: NY 13 T 9
Total Yards: NY 234 T 148
Yards Rushing: NY 228 T 160
Yards Passing: NY 6 T 38
Passes A/C: NY 2-1 T 12-4
Passes Intercepted: NY 0 T 1
Fumbles/Lost: NY 1-1 T 3-1
Penalities/Yards: NY 6-59 T 8-71
Punts/Average: NY 6-22 T 5-32
Individual leaders:
Rushing: Nelsonville-York: Jim Robson 8-122, Dave Boston 24-97; Trimble: Jeff McClelland 24-133
Passing: Nelsonville-York: Joe Spaulding 1-2-0-6; Trimble: Mike Roback 3-11-1-21, Jeff McClelland 1-1-0-17
Receiving: Nelsonville-York: Dave Boston 1-6; Trimble: L.R. Faires 2-31 |
|
