The Bulldogs put on a scoring exposition Friday at Ellison Field in Axtell during their 36-8 contest against the Longhorns.
“After giving up a long touchdown on the second play of the game, we shut them out after that,” said Head Coach Scott Hawkins.
Axtell switch back Hayden Sheffield scored four minutes into the game on a 66-yard interception and quarterback Koby Hollingsworth completed a two-point conversion. These were the Longhorn’s only points in the game.
“We looked good defensively for four quarters,” Hawkins said. “Offensively, we only played well the first half.”
Thorndale’s Scott Guzman answered the Longhorn touchdown with a 72-yard kickoff return and Luke Leschber completed the two-point conversion.
This began a scoring spree that didn’t end until the half.
Michael Herzog caught a 69-yard pass from Kaden Nicholson and his extra point kick was good. Next, Jagger Rubio ran in a 22-yard fumble return and the kick failed.
Rubio scored in the first minute of the second quarter on a three-yard run and the kick failed. Nicholson closed out the scoring for the half with a one-yard run and Herzog’s extra point was good to make score 00-8.
With a comfortable lead, many of the younger players got an opportunity to play such as sophomore running back Cain Brymer, who tallied 44 yards on seven carries.
In the fourth, the Bulldogs scored once more when the Thorndale defense scored two points on a safety. The Bulldogs held their 36-8 lead for the remaining 11:41 on the clock.
Thorndale’s offense had 283 yards rushing on 50 carries and Leschber led the pack with 125 yards on 13 carries. Behind him was junior running back Rubio with 10 carries for 83 yards, and two of Thorndale’s five touchdowns.
Hawkin’s was happy with the team’s victory but saw room for improvement.
“We had four turnovers that must be eliminated if we want to win close games,” he said.
The Thorndale Bulldogs, 2-0 for the season, are scheduled to play another game on the road against the Dawson High School in a non-district matchup at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 21.
The Dawson Bulldogs are coming off a 33-32 loss to Valley Mills last Friday. Dawson started its 2018 season with a 50-12 loss to Axtell and were picked to finish fifth in district 11-2A DII. They are 1-2 in pre-district play.
Thorndale will start its district schedule 7:30 p.m., Friday, Sept. 28, against the Cougars in Rosebud.
THS 36, AHS 8
THS AHS
19 First Downs 11 50-283 Rushing 36-30 1-1-0 Passing 8-18-3 69 Passing yards 124 352 Total yards 154 4-3 Fumbles 4-1 1-54 Punts 2-27 8-68 Penalities 7-57
Score by quarters
THS 21 13 0 2 —36 AHS 8 0 0 0 —8
Scoring summary
First quarter
Axtell-Hayden Sheffield 66 interception (Koby Hollingsworth conversion) 10:51
Thorndale-Scott Guzman 72 kick return (Luke Leschber conversion) 10:39
Thorndale-Michael Herzog 69 pass from Kaden Nicholson (Herzog kick) 4:33
Thorndale-Jagger Rubio 22 fumble return (kick failed) 2:44
Second quarter
Thorndale-Rubio 3 run (kick failed) 11:01
Thorndale-Nicholson 1 run (Herzog kick) 2:54
Fourth quarter
Thorndale-Safety 11:41
RHS individual leaders
Rushing: Leschber 13-125; Rubio 10-83, 2 TD; Cain Brymer 7-44; Guzman 8-36; Nicholson 7- -11; Mason Lindig 5-6.
Passing: Nicholson 1-1-0-69, 1 TD.
Receiving: Herzog 1-69, 1 TD.
13-2A-1 STANDINGS
Team Season District
W-L W-L Thorndale 2-0 0-0 Holland 2-1 0-0 Thrall 1-2 0-0 Milano 1-2 0-0 Rosebud-Lott 1-3 0-0 Hearne 0-3 0-0 Marlin 0-3 0-0
Last week: Flatonia 34, Thrall 13; Grapeland 27, Milano 0; Rio Vista 12, Rosebud-Lott 0; Legacy School of Sport Science 2, Hearne 0; Holland 45, Florence 8; Groesback 70, Marlin 0. This week: Holland at Crawford; Hico at Thrall; Iola at Milano; Jarrell at Rosebud-Lott; Hearne at Lexington; Marlin at Italy.
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