WEIRTON,WV – The Mt. Lions traveled to Weir High School in the Northern Panhandle last Friday and ran into a buzz saw #1 Madonna and fell in the contest by the score of 52-0.
Tucker County won the toss and deferred their option to the second half. This gave the ball to the Blue Dons first to start the game. Madonna wasted no time showing the visitors why they are ranked #1 in “A” as they started from their own 24 yard line and went 4 plays and scored on a 47 yard touchdown run by Eliot Nero, the 2 point conversion was good to give Madonna the lead 8-0 with 10:18 left in the first quarter. The Mt. Lions then put their offense on the field, but were forced to punt after a 3 and out. The Blue Dons got a 52 yard punt return by Nero that took the ball down to the Tucker County 8 yard line. One play later Nero finished it off with an 8 yard touchdown run to make the score 14-0 Madonna after the PAT was missed with 8:27 left in the first quarter.
The next possession for the Mt. Lions started at their 30 yard line, but again they were unable to sustain the drive and had to punt the ball back to Madonna. On the punt the Blue Dons rushed the punter and the punt was blocked out of the back of the end zone which resulted in a safety and 2 more points for Madonna to make the score 16-0 with 7:09 left in the first. The Blue Dons would get the ball back as a result of the safety and added to their lead on a 5 play drive. Madonna quarterback Ross Comis completed a 19 yard touchdown pass to Tyler Ewusiak with 4:55 left in the first. The 2 point conversion was good to widen the Madonna lead to 24-0. In the second quarter the Tucker County offense still struggled, but the Mt. Lions defense held Madonna scoreless until the end of the quarter when Nero scored on a 5 yard touchdown run with 42 seconds left in the half. The PAT was good to give the Blue Dons the halftime led 31-0.
Tucker County got the ball to start the third quarter, but was without their starting quarterback Austin Zirk due to injury and was unable to move the ball and was forced to punt the ball back to Madonna. The Blue Dons started their drive at their own 29 and went to work. Madonna took the ball down the field on 7 plays and the drive was capped off by a 14 yard pass from Comis to Nero. The extra point kick was good to increase the lead to 38-0 with 6:28 left in the third quarter. Madonna added another score with 1:36 left in the third quarter on a 4 yard pass from Comis to Marcello Biondello to put the score to 45-0 Blue Dons.
The fourth quarter showed the same Madonna dominance and it also showed the Blue Dons starters remaining in the game as a Tucker County fake punt attempt gave the ball back to Madonna at the Mt. Lions 31 yard line. Comis then connected with a 19 yard pass to Nero with 11:10 left in the game. The PAT kick was good and Madonna added to their score 52-0. The Tucker County offense moved the ball on their next drive as the Blue Dons started to put some reserves into the game on defense. The drive stalled however at the Madonna 17 on a failed fourth down play as the Blue Dons coaches put some starters back in on defense to keep Tucker County from picking up the first down. The game would see no more changes on the score board and the game ended with #1 Madonna getting the win 52-0.
Tucker County was dominated in total offense as Madonna outgained the Mt. Lions 442-52 in total yards. Elliot Nero led Madonna with 168 yards rushing and Ross Comis added 129 yards rushing and 126 yards passing. Tucker County was led by Daniel Kisamore with 8 carries for 38 yards rushing and Zach Armstrong added 12 carries for 26 yards on the ground. The Mt. Lions ended the season with a record of 6-5. Special Thanks to the Seniors that played their last football game at Tucker County High School: Austin Zirk, Zach Armstrong, Spencer Pennington, Dusty Conrad, Chris Freeman, Corey Kelley, Cory Hanlin, Harry Pennington, Billy Plum, Wiley Raines and Ben Flanagan. #1 Madonna will host #8 Wahama this Saturday @ 7:30pm. For more info go to
TuckerCountySports.Com.
