Buckeyes beat the streak against Trimble in season opener
By: Erin Ashley, Jack Demmler, John Curtsinger
Posted on:
NELSONVILLE, Ohio (WOUB) — For the first week of the season, the Trimble Tomcats faced the Nelsonville-York Buckeyes for a Tri-Valley Conference showdown. Each team finished the 2021 season having won their respective conference title.
The Tomcats opened their season beating the Buckeyes the last four years and enter Boston Field looking to extend their win streak.
However, with the help of the Buckeyes shutdown defense and impressive ground attack, Nelsonville-York caged the Tomcats, winning 16-0.
The first points of the game were rewarded to senior running back Hudson Stalder of the Buckeyes with just under two minutes left in the first quarter. Stalder would become a key player in this first game of the season after this 3-yard touchdown.
Stalder was a workhorse in the backfield for the Buckeyes tallying 10 carries for 45 yards and a touchdown.
Both defenses stepped up for the remainder of the first half. After giving up an early touchdown, Trimble shut out the Buckeyes in the second quarter, heading into the locker room down a touchdown.
With a one-score game, both teams approached the second half with grit, hungry to come out on top.
Despite a pass interference penalty against the Buckeyes, Tommy Mitchell responded quickly with a fumble recovery with just under five minutes left in the third quarter.
With a blow of the whistle, the Buckeyes started the fourth quarter hungry, looking to make it a two-score game.
The Trimble defensive line was able to temporarily withstand the pressure, forcing Nelsonville-York to settle for a field goal. Sophomore kicker Ben Perry secured three more points for the Buckeyes on the 20-yard attempt, digging a two-score hole for the Tomcats.
Nelsonville-York thrived off this momentum, applying seemingly endless pressure against Trimble. With the defensive line starting to crack, Mitchell ran in for a 39-yard touchdown, lengthening the divide between the two opponents and putting the nail in the coffin.
The Buckeyes look to continue this trend next week on the road against Newark Catholic.