Week 5
Location: Boston Field, Nelsonville-York, Ohio
Coaches: Nelsonville-York - Dave Boston Jr. Trimble - Phil Faires
Series Record: NYHS 24 THS 11 Ties 2
Joe Higgins
Messenger Staff Writer 9/26/06
NELSONVILLE -- History avoided. Regardless of what the senior class would have accomplished in their four years as Buckeyes, a loss to Trimble last night would have had them remembered as the team that lost to the Tomcats three years in a row; something that has never happened. It still hasn't. Friday night at Boston Field, the Bucks defended their territory, recaptured The First National Bank trophy, earned and shutout and did in fact avoid history with their 35-0 victory. Jay Edwards was once again the focus of the Buckeyes' attack, gaining 133 yards on the ground. He started at tailback with but moved back to QB in the second half where the team outscored Trimble, 27-0. The senior standout had a lot of help too as Bear Lewis tallied 101 yards and Zach Talbert scored a touchdown while collecting six tackles and four sacks. Blake Fouts ran for 67 yards on the night but was the lone positive in the statistics for the Tomcats. Quarterback Isaac Standley was sacked multiple times for a total of negative 61 yards. He tossed for 64 yards through that air as well. It was not always pretty for either team. There were plays were Nelsonville-York would be within striking distance but get a penalty or turn the ball over. The Tomcats, likewise, shot themselves in the foot on occasion as well. Both defenses forced a three-and-out situations on each team's respective first offensive drives. On Trimble's second possession, quarterback Isaac Standley spun and threw to a open man, but that open man was Nelsonville-York's Jay Edwards. Edwards made the interception and the Buckeyes took over at the 45 with 6:16 showing on the first-quarter clock. The Tomcat defense forced a fourth-and-four at the 39 but Edwards bullied his way up the middle for six yards and a first down. Later in the drive, Bear Lewis broke a 20-yard gain but at third-and-two on the five, Mark Christman broke through the line and hit Lewis in the backfield for no-gain. The defense was then able to stop Edwards on this fourth-down conversion attempt, turning the ball over at the five.
Blake Fouts ran for nine yards to get Trimble away from the end zone but on his second carry, he was forced to fumble and Randy Dennis was right on top of it to recover for the Buckeyes. The home team started their next drive from the Tomcat 24 and rolled down the field to a first-and-10 at the 11 to start the second quarter. The Red and White used stellar run defense to squash yet another fourth-down conversion, this time as Michael Barrick and Edwards fumbled the handoff and Charles Faires pounced on it to give possession to the 'Cats. A holding call hurt Trimble enough to bring up a punting situation. Fouts punted a line-drive that Nathan Fox snatched out of the air and took it back to the six-yard line. Edwards was forced into a four-yard loss on the first play but Barrick connected with Josh Clifton to get the ball down to the one-yard line. Lewis then finished the drive and got the Bucks on the board with a one-yard plunge to pay dirt and a 6-0 lead. Lewis put the exclamation point on next but taking a pitch and scoring the two-point conversion as well. After the kickoff, Trimble broke out the big-play when Standley found Chris Runyon behind the Buckeye secondary for a 58-yard touchdown pass. However, a holding call against Trimble's line brought the play back. Another penalty pushed the offense back and then Adam Barber knocked the Tomcats back to the 25 by sacking Standley for an 11-yard loss. Trimble's third punt of the game backed Nelsonville-York up to the 32 with under five minutes left in the half. With 2:24 on the clock, Trimble took over and moved down to the 35 with time ticking away. Standley dropped back to pass but Zach Talbert rolled through the line and sacked the quarterback. Nelsonville-York had a chance to score with 20 seconds left but Trimble stopped two passes and Edwards fumbled the ball away as time ran off the first half. Nelsonville-York's defense held Trimble to just four yards and one first down on the ground in the first half and gave up a total of 25 offensive yards. Talbert led the way with three sacks and five tackles. The Buckeyes gained 85 rushing yards in the first 24 minutes and tallied 105 offensive yards. Edwards moved back under center to start the second half and helped lead the team downfield to a first-and-goal before Lewis took the pigskin from four yards out to score. The two-point conversion run failed but the Tomcats were now facing a 14-0 deficit. Standley answered by finding Kacey Cruse across the 50. Cruse seemed to make the catch well near the 40 but was pushed back and the officials spotted the ball back at midfield. Trimble was forced to punt, all the while the Tomcat coaching staff was voicing their displeasure of the spot to the officials. After returning the punt, an unsportsmanlike penalty was enforced. Nelsonville-York negated the extra yardage by committing a clipping penalty but Edwards erased all doubt but taking the ball to the left, hitting the turbo button and then breaking a final tackle to score a 69-yard touchdown run. The run failed on the two-point conversion but Nelsonville-York owned a 20-0 lead.
The 'Cats were forced to punt again on their next series after Nathan Johnson picked up a sack and Gared Arnold and Barber combined to hit Standley for a 13-yard loss. Patrick Norway then broke through the line and blocked Fouts' punt, setting up the home team 13 yards from the end zone. Trimble's defense responded by forcing a fumble on Lewis and recovering at the five.
The offense line continued to have problems blocking Nelsonville-York as, this time, Lewis got in and sacked the quarterback at the goal line. On the punt, Fouts line-drived the kick again and Fox again grabbed it out of the air and returned it six yards for the touchdown. Barrick caught a pass in the end zone from Edwards to convert for two and put the Orange and Brown ahead, 28-0.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Trimble had four-and-one at the 21 and got a good push from its offensive line to get Standley two yards and the first. On second-and-eight though, Fox picked off Standley, who was under a lot of pressure, and gave possession back to the Buckeyes. Edwards took the ball to the house on the first play from scrimmage but had it brought back due to an illegal block call. Edwards struck again by faking a pitch and using a juke to gain 16 yards. Derek Arnold took a run nine yards to the 25 but a botched handoff from Edwards to Talbert allowed Greg Keith to pick up the loose ball and start the Tomcats 75 yards from a touchdown. Nelsonville-York was effective though cutting off four minutes on the clock and giving the teams just six minutes to play. Standley tried to connect with Christman on a long third-down play but Patrick Norway was there to break it up and force a punt.
On Nelsonville-York's first play, David Clark busted Derek Arnold for a four-yard loss. Talbert had better luck though and rushed 20 yards to the 29. Nelsonville-York continued to pound the ball, running time off the clock. Arnold scrambled 10 yards to get the ball to the one-yard line before Talbert finished the drive with a one-yard dive while Edwards added the PAT. Trimble was left with just two minutes to play and no chance of winning the game but went down swinging, passing to Joe Eing for two big completions.
However, the team was unable to convert on fourth down and turned the ball over. Nelsonville-York took the knee until the game was over at a final of 35-0 and the fans were treated to a show of fireworks to celebrate. THS coach Phil Faires said after the game, "We kept it close though the first half and that's what we wanted. In the second half, we tried to get good field position and just didn't get it. They put on a good drive and scored and that was the worse-case scenario for us. Nelsonville-York is the best team we'll play all year." Boston chimed in, "First of all, hats off to those Trimble kids. They had a great game plan, they were prepared. In the second half, we got back to what worked best for us and that was to spread it out. Jay's elusiveness was effective and the guys played their hearts out. Our kids understood what was at stake." Trimble is at Eastern on Friday to open play in the Tri-Valley Conference Hocking Division while Nelsonville-York opens play in the TVC-Ohio at Vinton County