BY KYLE LOVERN
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
NAUGATUCK, W.Va. — Tug Valley went into Friday’s homecoming game fighting for playoff positioning at the halfway point in the regular season.
The Panthers downed the visiting Tolsia Rebels 35-8 with five games left to play in the season. Tug Valley improved to 4-1 with the win at Bob Brewer Field and continued their fine offensive and defensive play.
Tolsia took the lead in the first quarter as freshman quarterback Robert Evans scored on a 5-yard run. He added the 2-point conversion to make it 8-0.
Tug Valley cut into the lead as speedy running back Bryson Elia scored from 6 yards out. The conversion snap was bobbled and the Panthers still trailed 8-6.
The second quarter was a defensive battle so the score remained 8-6 at halftime.
The Panthers of Coach Hady Ford took control of the game in the third quarter. Elia scored on a 2-yard run after TV put together a nice offensive drive. Then QB Preston May hit Buddy Marcum for the 2-point conversion to give the home team a 14-8 lead.
After a good defensive stand, Elia raced it to paydirt again from 75 yards out. Aiden Bosserman kicked the extra point as the Panthers extended their lead to 21-8.
Tug Valley’s Dakoda Walker recovered a Tolsia fumble in the endzone for a touchdown after a bad snap on a Rebel punt attempt. Cameron Slone scored another TD in the final quarter with Bosserman adding the extra point.
Adam Slone led the way on defense with 12 tackles, while Marcum had eight, Cane Thompson had seven, and Brady Brewer had six. Ashton Davis, Austin Smith and Walker each had five stops. Tug Valley had seven sacks, including two by Marcum.
Elia rushed for a team-high 284 yards and had 21 via the pass for a total of 305 yards of offense.
Evans led Tolsia (2-3) with 160 total yards of offense.
“Well, I couldn’t do anything without the O-line and our receivers making good blocks and creating holes for me to make something happen. It takes the whole team to stay on those blocks for me to get a good run,” Elia said after the game.
“We just try to get better every week and cut out the mistakes,” Coach Ford said. “They played us tough in the first half, but we cut down on the mistakes and played like we can in the second half.”
Tug Valley was ranked No. 7 in the state in this week’s WVSSAC Class A ratings last week. Depending on what other teams did they could move up a spot or two this week.
“We’re on a winning streak right now and we’ve got a couple of road games coming up. As long as we stay focused, keep our composure, and keep up the great intensity we should be all right. Our offense is getting much better and our defense has been phenomenal. As long as we continue to win, we should get a pretty good spot in the rankings and at the least make a good run in the playoffs,” Elia added.
The Panthers fans hope to see their team stay in the top 16 and make it to the postseason for the first time since 2019.
Things get tougher now as they leave the friendly confines of Naugatuck for the next few games. Tug Valley will play four straight away contests starting Oct. 6 at River View, Oct. 13 at Mount View, Oct. 20 at Westside, and Oct. 27 at Man. The Panther’s regular-season finale is set for Nov. 3 at home against the Van Bulldogs in the annual Senior Night game.
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
Tolsia: 8 0 0 0 – 8
Tug: 6 0 15 14 – 35
