Thorndale got behind early to top-ranked Holland and paid for it with their first district loss 40-13.
“On paper, we’re a very comparable team to Holland,” said Scott Hawkins, THS football coach and athletic director. “However, we did not measure up to their level of play or ours.
“They are very talented and well-coached. Hopefully we learned that we need to play at the highest possible level every Friday night.”
The Hornets got on top in a flash with two quick back-to-back touchdowns midway through the first quarter. First, on a Zane Spine goal line push and two minutes later on a 14-yard run by Clay Cooper. HHS led 14-0 going into the second quarter.
Thorndale brought the game within eight midway through the second with a Kyle Northcott pass to Michael Herzog for a 27-yard TD.
Holland regained the comfort of a two-possession lead two minutes later with a 36-yard TD run by Cooper. Cooper scored once more with a 13-yard run in the closing minute of the half, giving Holland a 26-6 lead over the Bulldogs.
Mason Lindig scored his second touchdown of the season with a seven-yard run in the third. THS made the point-after-touchdown (PAT) to make the game 26-13.
Thorndale was unable to get any closer and Spinn put the Hornets in the end zone two more times to give Holland a 40-13 victory and Thorndale their first district loss.
Thorndale’s backfield was boosted by Lindig, who had 17 carries for 85 yards on the night. Their Slot-T offense was held to 96 yards, the first time THS has been held to less than 100 yards this season.
THRALL–The Bulldogs play in the 89th Battle of 79 on Friday at Bulldog Stadium in Thorndale.
THS leads the overall series with the Tigers 55-30-3 and has won 35 of the last 40 meetings. The Bulldogs shutout the Tigers 41-0 last year in a game where the ‘Dawgs were led by three touchdowns from graduate Scott Guzman against a Thrall team that ended last year 3-7.
The Tigers are a different group this year with a 4-2 record so far this season and 1-1 in District 13-2A-I competition. The purple wearing cats shutout Milano 38-0 in their district opener but lost to a tough Hearne team 48-25 this past Friday.
“Thrall is alway a big game,” Hawkins said. “But they’ve improved a lot since last year.
“It will be important for us to bounce back in a big way and we need to be able to execute on offense, defense and special teams.”
Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.
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