By Tom Bragg, For Lootpress.com
HURRICANE, W.Va. – Hurricane found itself in a shootout in Week 2 against visiting Spring Valley, and midway through the fourth quarter the Timberwolves had pulled to within one score at 49-41.
The Redskins took over with a little more than seven minutes to play, and senior quarterback Noah Vellaithambi, as he has so many times in recent seasons for Hurricane, took matters into his own hands.
Vellaithambi’s 78-yard touchdown run put the game out of reach for the Redskins, who would go on to a 63-48 win to move to 1-1 on the season.
For his efforts, Vellaithambi has been named the Lootpress Kanawha Valley Player of the Week. The award is sponsored by the Law Offices of Brandon Steele.
“That was the second play of that drive and we were at like our 20,” Vellaithambi said of the pivotal touchdown run. “Coach [Donnie] Mays told us to hold the ball tight. We were just trying to run the clock out. They lined up in a defense we had practiced, so we made a specific call and read the edge. It was open and we just took it to the house.”
The Hurricane quarterback finished with 125 rushing yards on 12 carries with three rushing touchdowns, while also throwing for 235 yards and two more touchdowns.
“I think we came into the game too slow,” Vellaithambi said. “We hadn’t seen much of them [on tape]. We were slow in the first half, which is what we did last year as well when just jumped on us in the first half. Spring Valley is always a good team, we can’t do that. We played good football the second half but I think it would have been a much different game if we had come out with a higher mentality.”
Herbert Hoover junior running back Blake Fisher, who ran for 144 yards and scored three total touchdowns in the Huskies’ win against Winfield, won the Community Choice fan vote this week with 62.2 percent of the more than 21,000 votes cast coming in for him. Fisher advances to the Community Choice poll at the end of the regular season, with the winner of that poll awarded a $500 scholarship by the Lootpress Foundation.
Player of the Week winners
Week 1: Dane Hatfield, Herbert Hoover
Week 2: Noah Vellaithambi, Hurricane
Community Choice
Week 1: Kam McBride, Poca
Week 2: Blake Fisher, Herbert Hoover
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Tom Bragg
