MAN- Man High School senior Justin Grimmett accounted for 226 all-purpose yards and scored three touchdowns as Man stopped Tug Valley late for a 35-28 victory Friday night at George A. Queen Memorial Stadium.
Grimmett rushed for 142 yards and one touchdown and had 84 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Jordan Adams rushed for 115 yards and scored one touchdown for the Hillbillies and senior quarterback Israel Canterbury threw for 186 yards and three touchdowns.
“Justin had a heck of a night, Jordan Adams had a good night,” Man coach Harvey Arms said. “We moved the ball really well in the first half, but made too many mistakes in the second half.”
The Hillbillies (4-5) never trailed and led 28-0 in the first half, but had to hold off a late night Tug Valley as the Panthers were in position to tie the game or potentially win it with a two-point conversion.
“Our second half is the team that we felt like we could have been all year,” Tug Valley coach Hady Ford said. “We got to quit with the mental mistakes and the mistakes in general.”
“I am proud of our guys heart, we came out and played with everything we could play with,” Ford said. “We played to our potential and that showed it in the second half.”
Tug Valley had no answer for Man in the first half as the Hillbillies scored on their first four possessions and jumped out to a 28-0 lead.
Adams started the scoring with a 15-yard touchdown with 4:21 to play in the opening quarter.
Grimmett’s first touchdown of the evening, a 55-yard reception from quarterback Canterbury, put Man on top 14-0 after one quarter of play.
The Hillbillies tacked on two scores on their first two possessions of the second quarter as Grimmett raced 43 yards for his second score with 7:03 in the first half and Canterbury found Walls for a 45-yard touchdown pass to give Man a 28-0 lead with 5:19 to play in the first half.
Tug Valley got on the board with 3:08 remaining in the first half as Austin Smith ran in from 15-yards out to cut the deficit to 28-7.
Man would drive to the Tug Valley 15 on its next possession, but the Panthers stripped Canterbury of the ball and recovered the fumble at their own 14.
The Panthers were unable to generate any offense as the Hillbillies forced a punt taking over at the Panther 42 with 0:35 remaining.
Man would attempt a 40-yard field goal at the end of half, however, Jaxon Tipton’s attempt was blocked keeping the score at 28-7 after one half of play.
“From the end of the first half on, we made some bad decisions,” Arms said.
Tug Valley opened the second half with a successful onside kick recovery at the Man 45. Five plays later, Tanner Kirk raced in from 10-yards to bring the Panthers within 14, 28-14, with 10:54 to play in the third.
“That was something that we felt like we needed just to get the ball back and get something rolling,” Ford said. “It worked and we took it down and scored.”
Grimmett’s third touchdown of the game, a 9-yard reception from Canterbury on the first play of the fourth quarter, put Man ahead 35-14 with 11:56 remaining.
It didn’t take Tug Valley long to answer the Man score as Tanner Urconis ran a quick slant and raced 80-yards to the end zone just 12 seconds after the Hillbillies score to make it 35-21.
The Panthers final score of the night came with 2:54 remaining in the fourth quarter as Elijah Fluty found Riley Burton for a 17-yard touchdown to bring Tug within seven, 35-28.
Tug Valley forced a punt on Man’s next possession and took over at the Hillbilly 32 with 1:38 remaining. The Panthers would advance the Hillbilly 23, but on 4th-and-1, Tanner Kirk was stopped for no gain by Man’s Jayden Brown and Jeremiah Harless preserving the victory for the Hillbillies.
“We were playing pretty good defense in the first half, but the second half we had a lot of trouble getting a stop,” Arms said. “Thank goodness we got them stopped on the last series.”
Kirk was Tug Valley’s work house as he rushed for 233 yards and one touchdown on 42 carries.
“He is a prenominal player and we felt like he was that kind of player at the beginning of the year,” Ford said “He has lived up to the expectations and he came out here and laid it on the line tonight.”
Tug Valley (3-5) will host Van next week. The 17th-ranked Bulldogs were defeated by Buffalo Friday night and are in the playoff race heading into the final week of the season. A win by Van on Tug Valley’s home field will put the Bulldogs in the playoffs.
“We don’t want anybody coming to our house and coming away with a win,” Ford said. “We got to do what we can to make that happen and come away with a win.”
Man travels to Chapmanville next week with an outside shot at making the playoffs with a victory over its county rival.
“We can’t think about playoffs, we got to just think about the last game,” Arms said. “We will just have to worry about next week and see what happens.”
Man 35, Tug Valley 28
TV 0 7 7 14-28
Man 14 14 0 7-35
First Quarter
M- Adams 15 run (Tipton kick), 4:21
M- Grimmett 55 pass from Canterbury (Tipton kick), 1:37
Second Quarter
M- Grimmett 43 run (Tipton kick), 7:03
M- Walls 45 pass from Canterbury (Tipton kick), 5:19
TV- Smith 20 run (Totten kick), 3:08
Third Quarter
TV- Kirk 10 run (Totten kick), 10:54
Fourth Quarter
M- Grimmett 9 pass from Canterbury (Tipton kick), 11:56
TV- Urconis 80 pass from Fluty (Totten kick), 11:44
TV- Burton 17 pass from Fluty (Totten kick), 2:54