For the second straight year, the Thorndale Bulldogs are bi-district champions thanks to a 58-23 victory over Center Point on Thursday evening at Llano Yellowjacket Stadium.
The Bulldogs dominated right from the beginning building a 38-0 lead less than three minutes into the second quarter.
“We executed well on both sides of the ball,” said Scott Hawkins, THS football coach and athletic director.
Thorndale got across the end zone just two minutes into the game on a 51-yard run by Michael Herzog.
Midway through the quarter, THS was at their own nine-yard line when Colt Cauble scored his 10th touchdown of the season on a 91-yard run. A minute later, Herzog intercepted a Pirate pass which led to Jagger Rubio scoring two plays later.
Rubio scored again to open the second on a 59-yard run and THS was back in the end zone again less than 20 seconds later when Kyle Northcott threw his only pass of the game to Makai Mitchell for a 41-yard TD.
Thorndale scored twice more in the half on a 17-yard run by Cauble and a 14-yard run by Branson McCoy before Center Point’s Kolten Kitchens scored on a 10-yard run. THS led 45-7 at halftime.
The game was more balanced in the second half with the Pirates outscoring Thorndale 16-13 but it wasn’t nearly enough to stop the Bulldogs to advancing to the area finals.
The ‘Dawgs were led by Cauble with 155 yards on seven carries and two touchdowns and Jagger Rubio, who had three carries for 92 yards and two TD’s as well.
They were without leading rusher Cain Brymer, who got hurt on the first play of the final district game against Marlin the week before.
REFUGIO–Like bi-district, the Thorndale Bulldogs will face another familiar team when they play Refugio on Thursday, at Heroes Stadium in San Antonio.
Last year, THS fell to a seventh-ranked Bobcat team 49-14 that went on to beat second-ranked Shiner before losing to eventual state champion Mason 28-14 in the Region IV finals. Refugio had been to the state championship game three straight years before that.
This season, the Bobcats have been a season-long frontrunner ranked as the number one team by Texas Football Magazine the entire season.
They are led by quarterback Austin Ochoa, who took over behind the center during the playoffs last season and former QB turned receiver Jordan Kelley. Ysidro Mascorro is back after a dual threat season of 515 rushing yards and 154 tackles as a two-time all-state linebacker.
“Refugio is always very talented,” Hawkins said. “But we’ve played several talented teams and we’re just trying to get our guys ready to play at a high level.
“We’ve been telling our guys what we’ve always told them which is to play every play like it’s going to make a difference in the game. If something bad happens, put it behind you.”
Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
The address for Heroes Stadium is 4799 Thousand Oaks, San Antonio, Texas, 78233.
For fans heading southbound on I-35, they will want to take Exit 167B towards Thousand Oaks Dr./Starlight Terrace and turning right on Thousand Oaks before turning left into the Quarry Park where the Stadium is located.
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