BY KYLE LOVERN
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
NAUGATUCK, W.Va. — After a long lightning delay, the Tug Valley and Sherman football game finally got to kick off at Bob Brewer Stadium in Naugatuck on Friday night. As the clock approached midnight, Tug Valley left the soggy field with a convincing 51-16 victory.
Tug Valley All-State running back Bryson Elia must have caught some lightning in a bottle. He scored four touchdowns and rushing for 224 yards in the first half alone. One of his TDs came on a pass from quarterback Preston May.
May also connected with Cameron Slone for another early Panther TD and the Panthers led 32-16 at halftime.
Sherman was able to score a couple of TDs and had a safety for their first-half total.
The second half did not kick off until after 11 p.m. due to the late start and weather delay. After Tug Valley built up a big lead, there was a running clock in the fourth quarter.
Elia finished with 314 yards rushing on 21 carries, and he scored five TDs. He also hauled in one pass for 16 yards and a score.
“First of all, I just want to thank God for giving me the opportunity to play the game and have fun with it, but I just want to appreciate all my teammates for setting me up to succeed and always making sure the blocks are there,” a humble and talented Elia said. “We saw weaknesses in the defense and attacked them and that was our game plan, so I feel like we executed that well.”
May was 7-17 passing for 123 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for 31 yards.
Gavin Fitzpatrick also caught a 6-yard TD pass for the Panthers, as Slone found him in the end zone in the second half.
Riley White booted three extra points despite the rainy conditions and wet turf.
On the defensive side of the football, Slone led the Panthers with eight tackles, Derek Jewell had seven stops, Bryson Richardson had six and May had five. May also had an interception.
“I think that’s the first game that I coached where we had a lightning delay,” TVHS head coach Hady Ford said, reflecting on the unusual circumstances. “It was definitely tough to warm up then go in for a delay, and do that a couple of times.”
Ford noted how the stops and starts affected his team’s early play.
“I felt like we started off great and then we got our first delay. After the first delay we came back out a little slow but finally got back into a good rhythm. Elia, May and Slone came out and set the tone offensively and defensively,” he said.
Looking at the bigger picture, Ford emphasized the team’s progress.
“We got better,” said the coach. “That is the goal every week. If we continue to get better, then everything else will fall into place.”
The Class A Sherman Tide’s Elijah Pauley was 10 of 24 passing for 224 yards, two touchdowns and one interception to highlight the visitor stats.
Tug Valley improved to 1-1 in the season and will play host to Class AA Logan Friday night.
Score by quarters:
Sherman: 0 16 0 0 – 16
Tug Valley: 12 20 19 0 – 51