Oct. 8—MANCHESTER — Scott Dolan admits he probably should have done it sooner.
Midway through last season, though, the defensive coordinator for the Manchester West football team changed his scheme just for free safety Rayvon Nelson.
“Last year, he wasn’t on the field for the first half of the year, if you can believe it,” Dolan said after West’s 47-0 Division II West Conference home victory over Milford last Saturday. “But as soon as we got him on the field, that kind of points to a lot of the changes … about us turning into this fast and aggressive defense — and, I think, Rayvon always is one of those guys I can count on.”
The win marked the Blue Knights’ first ever over Milford in 10 meetings between the schools and moved them to 4-1 for the first time in 20 years.
West will host two-time defending Division II champion Pelham (5-0), which owns a 46-game winning streak, on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Nelson, a junior, nabbed two interceptions for a West defense that caused three turnovers en route to its second shutout of the season.
The Blue Knights flew to the ball and used their speed to disrupt inside runs and passing plays, holding Milford (1-4) to fewer than 150 yards of total offense.
Nelson made an interception in each half. On his second-half pick, Nelson baited Milford quarterback Brady O’Connor to throw the ball to a Spartans receiver running a seam by perfectly timing when to jump the route.
Nelson showed instincts on the play that you simply cannot teach, Dolan said.
“It’s, basically, just being patient,” Nelson said of the two interceptions.
Multi-pick games have become the norm for Nelson this fall. Dolan estimated that Nelson must be near the interception leaders in the state.
“He’s Mister INT,” Dolan said.
Second-year West coach Andrew Provencher said 80 percent of his players on last year’s one-win team had…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/full-nelson-display-manchester-west-035900873.html
Author : New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester
Publish date : 2024-10-09 03:59:00
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