MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The Warriors were mad. Tucker County had clawed its way back from a sizable deficit to cut the lead to 20-18, and on the following kick off recovered its own onside kick.
As tempers flared, the Warriors’ defense stepped up to midfield and got three stops for a total of minus-20 yards, pinning the Mountain Lions deep in their own territory and forcing a punt. After Levi Teets signaled the fair catch at the TCS 43, the equally angry offense came out for another drive.
A few seconds later, senior running back Calvin Blunt Jr. took the ball to the house, stripping tackles en route to a 57-yard, game-sealing touchdown.
“I knew this was my last game,” Blunt said. “I’ve been waiting for this moment my whole life, to get the winning touchdown, so it was a blessing. The whole thing was there, I’ve pictured it since I was little. I just executed.”
What made it more impressive was that Blunt was returning to action after aggravating a previous injury for the second time that night. The run sealed more than just a season-finale win, though. The last two years the Warriors (4-3) have had a football program, they’ve failed to secure a winning season. Now, they have after being reinstated last year and on top of a COVID-19 riddled few months.
“It’s been a blessing to just come out here,” Blunt said. “Since [the summer] we’ve put in work – we puked, we ran, ran plays 100%, we all went hard and the season didn’t go our way but we played hard.”
For first-year head coach Chris Simpson, the win means everything at the tail end of a season where his kids didn’t know if they’d have in-person schooling, let alone a football season.
“I’m proud of the progress we’ve made,” Simpson said. “Not many people gave us a chance, but we have a lot of heart. I know the talent on this team and I know what the expectation is. We’re young, and they have that same expectation level. We’ll keep pushing and get better, but to be able to come out on top with a winning season, to match all the victories that this program has had in its first two years of existence in one year, it means a lot. It’s an excellent building block for us.”
But to fully take in how these two leaders feel, one needs to go back to the beginning of the game. Trinity jumped out an early lead after a 10-play opening drive capped by a 3-yard rushing touchdown by quarterback Drew Boczek and another short rushing score by Blunt after he recovered a fumbled punt. Just before the close of the half, Trinity pushed their lead to 20-0 with another red zone score by Blunt, a 5-yard rushing TD following a 4th-and-long conversion.
The Mountain Lions (1-7) were able to get on the board shortly after on a 5-yard rushing touchdown by J.J. Knotts. The follow up 2-point conversion attempt failed, and a few possessions later, a home run ball on a lateral pass was intercepted by Levi Teets – his second of the game – solidifying the Warriors’ lead at 14 points at the break.
The second half played out much differently. The entire third quarter saw the Warriors and Mountain Lions trade possessions until in the final two minutes when senior Jeremy Liller bullied the Trinity defense en route to Tucker County’s second touchdown. A subsequent fumble by Blunt was recovered by the Mountain Lions, who then used a well-rounded playbook to make their way back downfield for their third score of the game, a 1-yard punch by Knotts. Luckily for Trinity, Tucker County couldn’t hit either a 2-point conversion attempt, giving them a slight lead at 20-18.
Then out came the tenacity, the anger and the explosive score by Blunt.
“That run itself embodies who Calvin is as a player and what he means to this program,” Simpson said. “He brings it hard, he’s the consistent leader on the team, he’s always the guy that works the hardest at practice, stays late, asks the coaches what’s going on. He is, without a doubt, the model athlete and to see him take that moment, make the most of it and grab it was magical to see it happen. I was happy it was him who was able to make that difference.”
BOX SCORE
Tucker County 0 6 0 12
Trinity Christian 13 7 0 6
SCORING SUMMARY
TCS Boczek 3 yard rush (Knight kick good)
TCS Blunt 6 yard rush (Knight kick no good)
TCS Blunt 5 yard rush (Knight kick good)
TCHS Knotts 5 yard rush (2-point conversion no good)
TCHS Liller 1 yard rush (2-point conversion no good)
TCHS Knotts 1 yard rush (2-point conversion no good)
TCS Blunt 53 yard rush (Knight kick no good)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
PASSING: TCHS – Rosenau 15-31-1 200, Team 0-2-1 ; TCS- Boczek: 13-23-1 155
Rushing: TCHS – Knotts 7-14 2, Liller 8-39 1, Rosenau 2-5; Boczek 10-28 1, Teets 2-(-2), Blunt 17-153 3
Receiving: TCHS – Knotts 1-10, Liller 10-169, Channel 2-20, Strowderman 1-3; TCS: Lohmann 2-33, Steptoe 4-35, Teets 1-4, Kniska 3-34, Hill 4-49
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