Thomson Knocks off Burke County to Stay Undefeated
Thomson starts fast and withstands a rally to earn an important region win over rival
#6 Thomson sprinted to a commanding first half lead against rival Burke County, and then responded impressively to a third quarter spurt by the Bears to prevail 27-14 at home Friday. Thomson improved to 7-0 overall and 4-0 in class 3A, region 4 action. Burke County fell to 4-2 and 2-1.
The Bulldogs rushed for 300 yards in the game, with 261 coming in the first half when Thomson took a 21-0 lead. And Thomson’s defense forced two key turnovers while holding Burke County’s offense to 263 total yards, significantly less than the Bears’ per game average of 400 yards before Friday.
Curry’s Explodes in the First Half
Junior Jontavis Curry rushed for 172 yards on 12 carries. Twice during the first half Curry scored a touchdown on the first play of a series for Thomson. Curry’s first touch of the game was a 75-yard dash on Thomson’s first play from scrimmage. His second touchdown run was a 50-yard scamper that put the Bulldogs ahead 14-0 with 6:52 left in the second quarter.
Fourth year head coach Michael Youngblood expressed satisfaction with his team’s first half execution during our post game interview.
“I thought we came out the first half… we had a little play in where we hit ‘em with a touchdown on the first play on offense,” Youngblood recounted. “I thought defensively we played lights out in the first half. So that was a unit that did really good.”
Youngblood Pleased with Response
But Youngblood was especially pleased by the way his players handled themselves after a 14-0 third quarter spurt by Burke County. Only 113 seconds ticked off the game clock during the run by the Bears, who scored first on a safety, then on a 48-yard touchdown drive immediately afterwards, and finally on a fumble recovery in Thomson’s end zone that cut the deficit to 21-14 with 2:36 left in the third quarter.
“You gotta give Burke credit,” Youngblood said. “They made a run right there in the third quarter… I tried to get our team together a couple of times right there and just tell them, hey we gotta fight through that. OK good teams fight through these situations. So I thought our kids did a tremendous job of fighting through, and we were able to finish the football game. And that’s what I was proud of more than anything.”
Martin and Lane Swing the Momentum
On the series after Thomson’s lead was cut to 7, senior quarterback Tay Martin made a pair of plays that swung the momentum decidedly back in favor of the Bulldogs. Thomson faced a third-and-15 on their own 47-yard line on the first play of the fourth quarter when Martin calmly dropped back and fired the ball deep down the middle of Burke County’s secondary to a streaking Jordan Lane for a 22-yard completion. The sophomore Lane hung on to it when Kohen Rogers hit him hard to bring him down.
“Yeah he took a big hit,” Youngblood said about Lane on the play. “Big time players make big time plays. And he did it. So, you know, my thing is making sure our kids understand that moment. They embraced it. And they did a good job of executing on that play.”
On the very next snap, Martin exploded up the middle for a 30-yard touchdown run that gave Thomson a 27-14 lead with a little more than 11 minutes remaining.
Youngblood and Martin each provided more feedback about the important third down conversion and Martin's touchdown run.
“Basically they cleared out the middle of the field,” Youngblood explained about the completion to Lane. “And they gave it to us because they were trying to stop us on the run. They were trying to key in on Tay and Curry. And what we did is we motioned (Curry) out to try to empty out the backfield. And what we wanted to do was if they didn’t move we were gonna hit Curry on the wheel route. But if they did, we were gonna come back to the middle and hit #5 (Lane) because the middle of the field was wide open. So it happened the way we thought. Tay made a good read, J-Roc made a good catch. And that was the turning point of the game.”
Martin, who probably deserves to be called the area’s best football player, talked about his thought process during the touchdown run that gave his team a fourth quarter cushion.
“On that play right there, I read the end,” Martin started. “If the end comes up (to play the handoff to Curry) I pull it and I get vertical. The end came up. I pulled it and got vertical.”
Both plays involved Curry as a sort of decoy, so I asked Martin if playing in the backfield with such a dangerous back makes his job easier.
“Yes,” Martin answered. “Teams are gonna key in on him, especially because of his speed and how he can make cuts, and stop on a dime and keep going. So it takes a lot of pressure off me.”
Martin gained 76 yards on the ground, and he also threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Lane in the second quarter. Lane accounted for 74 total yards, 44 receiving and 30 rushing.
Thomson’s Defense Swarmed
Thomson’s defense allowed only 6 points, and twice it took the ball from Burke County inside Thomson’s red zone. Dan’Quavious Cummings forced a fumble near the Thomson 14-yard line that was recovered by Quinshawn Hearst in the second quarter to preserve a first half shutout. And an interception by Hearst on Thomson’s goal line midway through the fourth quarter all but slammed the door shut on a possible comeback for the Bears. Hearst also recorded 2 tackles for a loss, and Cummings added a sack.
Kindarius Green (4 TFL) and Quan Rogers (2 TFL) also repeatedly disrupted Burke County’s offense, which gained only 125 yards rushing after averaging 275 on the ground during the first five games of the season.
Burke County’s Barrage
Burke County’s third quarter spurt started when Ivan Arroyo sacked Martin with 4:29 left in the third quarter. The Bears returned the ensuing kickoff to Thomson’s 48-yard line, and Tiger Williams scored 4 plays later on a 4-yard run. The two-point conversion was no good, but Burke County scored another touchdown three plays later when Elijah Young recovered a fumble in the end zone to make it 21-14 with 2:36 left in the third quarter. Thomson then stopped Burke County again on an attempted two-point conversion.
Junior quarterback Marshall Flowers passed for 138 yards, targeting Kohen Rogers (5 receptions for 42 yards), Charlie Dorsey (3 receptions for 42 yards), Jaedon Middleton (1 reception for 35 yards) and Donta Williams (1 reception for 19 yards).
Up Next
Thomson will host Harlem (4-3, 2-1) next Friday, and Burke County will face Hephzibah (5-2, 3-0) in Waynesboro. The Bulldogs and the Bears will still be considered the favorites to finish first and second in the region and secure a home game in the state playoffs. But unbeaten (in the region) Hephzibah will have its say in the matter in the coming weeks.