BY KYLE LOVERN
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
NAUGATUCK, W.Va. — The Tug Valley Panthers raced out to an early lead and never looked back as they downed the visiting Symmes Valley (Ohio) Vikings 51-8 Friday night at Bob Brewer Stadium in Naugatuck.
Sophomore running back Bryson Elia scored five touchdowns and gained 239 yards of total offense to lead the way for Coach Hady Ford and his staff.
Freshman Preston May got his first start at quarterback for the Panthers. Tug Valley was playing without the services of running back Adam Slone, who is nursing a knee injury.
Tug Valley had a 19-0 lead after one quarter of play and led 38-0 at halftime. They scored 13 more points in the third quarter for the final total as the Panthers let off the gas pedal. The Vikings scored their only TD and 2-point conversion in the final quarter.
Elia got the Panthers on the scoreboard with 8:28 left in the first quarter scoring on an 8-yard screen pass from May. The kick was no good, but TV led 6-0.
After a fumble recovery by the Panthers, TV marched down field and Elia took another screen pass in from 19 yards out. The extra point kick by Aiden Boserman was good to make it 13-0.
Big Buddy Marcum scored on a short 2-yard pass from May with 38 seconds left in the half to make it 19-0.
Elia scored another TD with 6:43 left in the third quarter on a nifty 48-yard run. That made it 25-0 after the failed extra point kick, but the Panthers cruised to the easy victory.
Elia and Marcum both scored another TD in the third quarter and junior Ashton Davis also hit paydirt to round out the scoring for TVHS.
May was 17-24 passing for 184 yards, while Jaxon Nenni-Mills was 4-8 for 54 yards. Elia led the ground attack with 130 yards on 10 rushes.
The coaching staff was very pleased with the balanced offensive attack.
Tug Valley not only had a dominant offensive performance, but the swarming defense was just as strong with several tackles for loss and only allowing the one late score.
The starters on defense had a shutout and allowed only 41 total yards with six sacks and two fumbles. Davis picked up three sacks on the defensive side, Michael Curtis had two, and Austin Smith recorded one. Thompson, Curtis, and Smith each had four total tackles while Thompson also had two fumble recoveries.
“We played better tonight,” Coach Ford said. “We had good intensity and we want to keep that going.”
Ford was pleased with the play of Elia and May and said his freshman QB can still improve as the season goes on.
The Panthers wore their camo jerseys and the game was deemed Military Night at TVHS. The WV National Guard was also in attendance.
Tug Valley is now 2-1 on the season and will hit the road this week as they travel to East Ridge, Kentucky, for their next game. East Ridge is also 2-1 on the season. “They were tough last year, I expect them to be about the same,” coach Ford said. “Anytime you go out of state it’s a tough game.”
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
Symmes Valley: 0 0 0 8 – 8
Tug Valley: 19 19 13 0 – 51