Week 1
Location: Boston Field, Nelsonville, Ohio
Coaches: Nelsonville-York - Dave Boston Jr. Trimble - Phil Faires
Series Record: NYHS 25 THS 12 Ties 2
By KEVIN WISEMAN
Messenger sports editor
Published: Saturday, August 23, 2008 9:08 AM EDT
NELSONVILLE — Everything was looking good for Nelsonville-York as the clock was winding down in the fourth quarter. The Buckeyes held a 35-13 lead over the Trimble Tomcats and appeared on their way to a happy night.
But that all changed with 8:10 to go, when fullback Zack Tablert plunged into the line for a three-yard gain. As the rest of the Tomcats and Buckeyes got up and walked back to the huddle, Talbert was still on the ground. The senior dislocated his ankle and needed a stretcher to get off the turf as Boston Field fell silent.
The Buckeyes won the game, 41-13. But they’re afraid they’ve now lost one of their most important players in Talbert. Nelsonville-York head coach Dave Boston Jr. said Talbert was getting x-rays, and the team was holding out hope that he wasn’t lost for the season.
“At that moment when you see a young man like Zack in pain, of course at the time we didn’t know exactly what it was,” a visibly shaken Boston said afterward. “But he’s a tough young man and he’ll bounce back from it and hopefully we’ll get him back in a couple of weeks. But the emotions were really low at that point in time. We were excited to win the football game but we’re still feeling pain for Zack right now.”
The carry gave Talbert 100 yards rushing on 15 carries, including a touchdown. He also made all five of his extra points as well as being a key part of a defensive effort that allowed Trimble just 184 yards of total offense.
“He was just playing hard,” Trimble head coach Phil Faires said. “You hate to see it happen. Hopefully he’ll be better and get to play. It could happen to anyone.”
Before the injury, Talbert was a big part of a rushing offense that devasted Trimble in the second half. Trimble was able to keep a 7-7 tie with the Buckeyes before an eight-yard Derek Arnold touchdown put Nelsonville-York on top 14-7 with 54 seconds left in the second quarter.
Trimble was greeted by a rushing onslaught to start the third quarter. Arnold ripped off a 14-yard run, Talbert barreled through for a 21-yard gain, then Arnold capped off a three-play, 55-yard drive with a 20-yard touchdown run. Arnold provided an exclamation point as he plowed over a Trimble defender on the one-yard line, putting the Buckeyes up 21-7.
“They found the right play,” Faires said. “And maybe it wouldn’t matter what they run. They were pretty well starting to dominate us on the line of scrimmage. Had to stop them to get back in the game and instead they go down and score. We knew right then things were going to have to be perfect for us to win the game. Nelsonville’s a good team.”
The Buckeyes continued to pound out the rushing yards. They crafted a 12-play, 62-yard drive that ate 6:15 off the clock. Talbert ended the drive by hurdling over the Trimble defense on fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line, giving the Buckeyes a commanding 28-7 lead.
Arnold added a 28-yard touchdown at the beginning of the fourth for a 35-7 lead. The standout junior finished with 20 carries for 144 yards and four touchdowns. He had 92 rushing yards in the second half.
“He’s tough,” Faires said. “I’ve said, ‘If you don’t stop Arnold, you’re not going to beat them.’ We had a gameplan and our kids played as good as they could. They were defeinitly better than us tonight.”
Nelsonville-York out-rushed the Tomcats, 312-138 for the game and 215-87 in the second half.
“Offensivley and then defensivley our kids stepped up and got the job done and that’s what you ask from them,” Boston said. “When they did that, it turned the game around and then we took total control of the ground game and our kids have worked hard. They deserve what they get.”
Nelsonville-York drew first blood when Arnold scored from two yards out behind the right side of his line with 3:49 left in the first quarter. The Tomcats evened the score up in the second quarter on a eight-yard pass from Kacey Cruse to Chris Runyon. The Tomcats’ scoring march was 14 plays and covered 61 yards.
But the night could be remembered for the cruel twist of fate delievered to Talbert, a member of the All-Tri-Valley Conference Ohio Division team last season.
“Zack’s a big play maker,” Boston said. “He breaks tackles and runs through people. He blocked extremely well tonight. His kicking game was solid. It’s a tough loss right now but hopefully he’ll be able to get back with us.”