The season opener between Nelsonville-York and Trimble proved to be a tale of two tailbacks. In the end, the Tomcats saw a lot of tail from Buckeye back Dustin Young, who ran his team to victory.
Young ended the hopes of a Trimble victory in the first half when he ran for four touchdowns and 284 yards on only 11 carries, leaving the Tomcats speechless and scoreless at the break.
“Dustin had a great first half,” Nelsonville-York coach Dave Boston said. “We went to him and wanted to get that work out of him, and we know we have to develop a great running attack in order to throw the football. So he did a great job for us tonight.”
Trimble, on the other hand, had problems getting the ground game going, as senior Austin Keith finished with only 22 yards rushing on 14 carries.
Boston said preparation during two-a-days was key in his team’s big win against its cross-town rival.
“Kids worked extremely hard this week and during the summer in preparation for this game, and we have a great group of senior leadership,” he said. “(We have) 14 members in our senior class, great group of hard workers, and it paid off overnight.”
Senior and three-year starting quarterback Nathan Dean had an up-and-.down night. He threw for 157 yards with a touchdown but also turned the ball over three times.
“Nathan threw the ball well,” Boston said. “He threw a pick and lost a fumble, but every now and then you have those things happen to your quarterback, and the great thing about it was he kept his feet together and make plays after that.”
Next weekend will feature a game between Trimble and Wahama (W. Va.). Nelsonville-York will host Newark Catholic next Friday.
Even with a week one loss to Harvest Prep, Boston said the Green Wave will be a tough early season test for his team.
“We better be ready,” he said. “Newark Catholic’s a heck of a football team, and they are going to try to redeem their loss this week.
“We are going to go back to the drawing board for them and try to eliminate some mistakes and move forward.”
