NELSONVILLE — Fans and parents filled both sides of the stands at Boston Field on Saturday night. Some who didn’t want to pay the price of admission took their seats in the beds of their trucks just behind the fence. The winner of the $215 split the pot was announced, the smell of fresh popcorn drifted out of the concession stands and, at 7 p.m., the long-awaited 2020 high school football season finally began. For a brief time, everything was almost normal.
Of course, not everything could be normal in Nelsonville-York’s 34-28 loss to Trimble.
The crowd, coaches and some of the players donned masks. Referees didn’t touch the footballs coming in and out of play but, instead, left orange markers for the center to place the ball before the snap. The announcer read a statement over the PA system requesting that fans refrain from yelling in the direction of the field but encouraged loud clapping.
Buckeyes head coach Rusty Richards was happy to be able to do his job after a long and uncertain offseason.
“Finally, it felt like normal,” Richards said. “We’re out here playing, and pads are popping for the first time since winter sports.”
The first game of the season was a struggle, though, for Nelsonville-York. The Buckeyes couldn’t get the defense off the field in the first half and gave up five fourth-down conversions. The two most costly of those conversions came with touchdowns on fourth-and-12 and fourth-and-22.
The mask-bearing fans quickly forgot about the no yelling request and took out their anger on the coaches and referees, as they would in any other season.
By halftime, Trimble had a comfortable 27-7 lead, one that proved insurmountable even after a strong second half from Nelsonville-York.
“We didn’t make plays, and they did,” Richards said. “We made more plays in the second half, but they outplayed us. Their athletes were better than ours.”
The Buckeyes came storming back in the third quarter after taking a 27-point deficit. Trimble had players cramping after nearly every play and was forced to put in players that had barely even seen the practice field, Tomcats head coach Phil Faires said.
“Tonight with the cramps, we’re throwing kids in there that have never even taken a snap in practice,” Faires said. “Just hoping and trying to yell at them where to go.”
The inexperience opened an opportunity for the Buckeyes they weren’t able to finish.
Justin Inman, the father of Buckeyes sophomore Dalton Inman, was just happy his son was able to have a season.
“It means the world to him and all these fans and this community,” Inman said. “This is a big thing for the community.”
The community embraced the new normal with a strong showing that pleased Richards.
“It was a typical football game,” Richards said. “The crowd did a good job on both sides it looked like, spreading out and so forth.”
Richards said the Buckeyes will look to be more consistent in next week's game at Wellston. Until then, the focus will be to stay healthy, so they might have another chance to feel normal.
