Coming up Roses: New Lex RB shoulders the load, Panthers stay unbeaten
FALLS TOWNSHIP — The clash between New Lexington coach Kevin Board and West Muskingum’s Nate Brownrigg has certainly brought a new edge to the Muskingum Valley League's Small School Division.
Both taskmasters brought their unbeaten squads to Whirlwind Stadium on Friday night. New Lex’s high flying offense has been a wrecking ball in three convincing wins, but would meet Brownrigg’s stout Tornadoes defense.
Board leaned on his offense again — this time with running back Hunter Rose. He ran for 190 yards on the ground and found the end-zone twice, as the Panthers built a two-touchdown lead and held on for a 26-14 win at West M Athletic Booster Field.
New Lex, ranked seventh in Division IV by the Associated Press, improved to 4-0 for the first time since 2008, when All-Ohioans Brett Wycinski and Clint Cannon led them to the Division IV state semifinals. It hosts Tri-Valley in another MVL showdown in Week 5.
For the first time all season the Panthers weren’t able to execute in the first quarter, yielding a pair of turnovers that thwarted potential touchdowns. The first came when Rose as stripped at the goal-line by Slater Sampsel and recovered by Jake Anton, who returned it to midfield.
West was unable to capitalize, turning it over on downs.
Quarterback Lukas Ratliff was intercepted at his own 47 by Anton on the Panthers' next drive — Ratliff’s first interception of the season — but New Lex's secondary broke up two passes by Anton early in the second quarter, forcing the Tornadoes to punt.
West M’s defense could only hold the league's best offense at bay for so long. Rose broke loose on a run-pass option from Ratliff from the Tornadoes' 30, finishing an 8-play scoring drive to make it 6-0 Panthers with 7:19 left in the second.
A quick three-and-out followed by West and the Panthers were back on the move from their own 9, as Rose quickly took an inside zone read, and bounced it outside for a quick 26-yard gain.
Ratliff found versatile Ryan Hobbs twice on the drive, setting himself up for a 5-yard touchdown run that extended the lead to 14-0 after Ratliff hit receiver Jerek Braglin for the two-point conversion.
The second half proved far less one-sided, but the early points proved critical again for the Panthers.
“The kids have done a tremendous job up front and allowing players like Rose and Ratliff and some of our other skill players to make plays,” Board said. "We have a lot of senior leadership on our lines this year. We weren’t as cohesive last year — they are playing much better as a group this year. They played well all night and got us off the field tonight.”
West M wasn’t going down without a fight, as anyone familiar with Brownrigg’s culture change knew the Tornadoes were going to try to flip the script.
Running back Ty Shawger cut the Panthers lead after scoring from a yard out, and freshman kicker Silas Kuhn cut it to 14-7 with his extra point early in the third.
But the Panthers reclaimed a two-possession lead after another Ratliff RPO run went for a 47-yards house call. It made it 20-6 Panthers with 7:39 left in the third.
West M got back within 20-14 after Shawger scored from 6-yards out at 5:54 in the fourth, and Pat Reilly's defense got the stop it needed close to midfield with 4:42 left. The Tornadoes still had two timeouts.
West M tried to outmuscle the Panthers defensive line, but Shawger was stuffed at the Tornadoes' 29 by defensive lineman Zane Pletcher and safety Harrison Ratliff to give the ball back to the Panthers offense.
Rose drove the last nail in the Tornadoes' coffin, going unscathed for a touchdown on the next play from scrimmage.
Rose, a wrestling standout in his free time, echoed his coach's thoughts in regards to the line play. His team ran for 306 yards and were 4-of-9 on third down conversions.
“That offensive line is going to go far this year,” Rose said. “Coach Board always tells us, 'it starts up front and how we finish.' We will have to play that same way against Tri-Valley next week. I think we’re very capable of beating them.”
West Muskingum's resilient defense forced three turnovers, led by the secondary play of Anton and Sampsel. Anton had both of the team's interceptions and Sampsel, a transfer from River View, recorded 13 tackles to lead the team.
Shawger led the Tornado offense, which again played without speedy Rashid Sesay, with 117 rushing yards on 25 carries. Sampsel caught four passes for 36 yards.
Brownrigg called it "a battle all night." Despite the loss, his team is 3-1 for the first time since 2009 entering next week's game at Philo.
"We talked about how our kids hadn’t played in real football games," Brownrigg said. "I hope we have more close games with them in the future. One team made more plays than the other, and we just didn’t make enough plays to win. But it’s football. I am proud of our effort tonight.”
zan-sports@gannett.com; Twitter: @danb235
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: New Lexington RB Hunter Rose shoulders load in win at West Muskingum
