Fort Gay, W. Va. — In an absolute ‘slobber knocker’ that was played in the mud it was Tolsia ( 1-1 ) scoring 10 points in the final quarter to beat Buffalo ( 0-2 ) 10-6 at Wilts Salmons field on Friday night to give Rebel Head Coach Eric Crum his first victory.
Tolsia overcame six turnovers including 4 inside the thirty yard line and held Buffalo scoreless for the last three quarters.
Buffalo struck first after a Rebel fumble as Ethan Burgess went 22 yards for a touchdown with 2:30 to go in the first quarter the Rebels stopped the two point try.
The Bison had plenty of chances in the first half to stretch the lead out, but the Rebel defense led by Stone Sartin, JJ Sturgell, Blake Conn and Mason Mann were constantly in the backfield chasing the pass happy Buffalo QB.
Buffalo lead 6-0 at halftime as the Rebels were fortunate to be down only six points after committing 5 turnovers in the first half.
With just over 10 minutes left in the ballgame and the Bison backed up inside the five yard line the Tolsia defensive line led by Stone Sartin sacked the quarterback in the end zone for a safety to make it 6-2.
After a Buffalo free kick Rebel running back Jonathon Johnson broke three tackles on his way to a 35 yard touchdown scamper and then scored the two point conversion to give the Rebels a 10-6 lead with 7:36 to go in the game.
Buffalo would get a couple more chances late in the ball game but once again the Tolsia defense rose to the occasion and held on for the victory.
Buffalo 6 0 0 0 – 6
Tolsia 0 0 0 10 – 10
Tolsia will travel to Hamlin next Friday night to play Lincoln Co. ( 1-1 ).
Tolsia Head Coach Eric Crum
COACH’S COMMENT
“… Couldn’t be more proud of our defense, they were awesome tonight. They never panicked after our offense put them in bad spots time after time.” Most of our guys play both ways and when we turned the ball over they couldn’t hang their heads they had to go right back out and put it behind them.”
“… So happy for guys like Blake Conn and JJ Sturgell who have waited their turn and then step up to help us get this victory. It means a lot to me for those guys to see success.”
“… Our fans were great all game, the weather wasn’t ideal and they still showed up and were loud the entire game. The boys feed off of that and it means so much to all of us.”
