In a high school season like no other, the football God’s shined on Tug Valley late in the night as the Panthers rallied from a 12-point, second half deficit to beat Sherman, 22-20, at rain-soaked and muddy Zontini Field on Friday.

“Our inexperience showed early in the game,” Tug Valley head coach Hady Ford said. “We played well in the second half and was fortunate to get out of there with a win.”

Running back Zack Savage raced 18 yards with just over three minutes remaining to pull the Panthers even at 20-all. Tanner Kirk took a pass from quarterback Joby Sorrell and ran in the game-winning conversion.

Tug Valley (1-0) had fallen behind 14-0 in the opening half and 20-8 in the second before storming back to win.

Caleb May stripped the ball from Sherman’s C.J. Winnell and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown in the closing seconds of the opening half. Savage took a pass from Sorrell to make it 14-8 at the break.

Savage’s one-yard run early in the final period pulled the Panthers to within 20-14.

T.J. Hager had an 85-yard touchdown catch and ran 19 yards for the Tide, now 0-1. Winnell opening the scoring with a six-yard run.

Tug Valley is scheduled to host Weirton Madonna at 4 p.m. next Saturday at Bob Brewer Field, pending approval under the state’s color-code map for athletics.

At Seth

SCORE BY QUARTERS:

TV (1-0)…..0   8   0    14 – 22

SH (0-1)…..0  14   6   0 – 20

Scoring:

First Quarter

No scoring

Second Quarter

SH – C.J. Winnell, 6-yard run (Davy Jarrell kick), 6:25

SH – T.J. Hager, 85-yard pass from Davy Jarrell (Davy Jarrell kick), 4:49

TV – Caleb May, 24-yard fumble return (Zack Savage, 3-yard pass from Joby Sorrell), 25.7

Third Quarter

SH – T.J. Hager, 19-yard run (conversion failed), 4:23

Fourth Quarter

TV – Zack Savage, 1-yard run (conversion failed), 10:14

TV – Zack Savage, 18-yard run (Tanner Kirk pass from Joby Sorrell), 3:02

Next up: Tug Valley (1-0) vs. Weirton Madonna (0-0), 4 p.m., Sept. 12