Bulldogs beat Hornets, 56-54; face rival Thrall in ‘Battle of 79’ next
HOLLAND—Friday night in Bell County started off rocky for the Bulldogs, after the Hornets built a 14-0 lead a little more than five minutes into the game. The HHS lead hardly deterred the ‘Dawgs, as a pair of touchdowns by senior quarterback Coy Stutts towards the end of the first tied the game. In the second, it was all about Thorndale. Early in the quarter, Jayden Clawson scored his first of the three touchdowns of the night with a 76-yard pass from Stutts. Although Holland’s Jack Chaffin caught a 38-yard TD pass from Desi Cantu with 7:48 to play in the half, the Bulldogs built some security throughout the rest of the first half. Clawson scored again on a 30-yard run at the 4:55 mark and senior receiver Clason Beasley did his part to increase the Bulldog lead to double digits when he scored on a 27-yard pass from Stutts with a little more than two minutes to play. Holland chipped away at the Thorn-dale lead with a goal line push by Christian Michalek with 1:07 left, but Beasley scored again in the final minute of the second half on an 18-yard pass. The Bulldogs led at halftime, 42-27. THS held their 15-point lead in the third with both teams scoring two touch- downs apiece, making it 56-41 at the end of three.
The Hornets staged a comeback in the fourth, with a pair of TD runs by Cruz earlier in the quarter. The first was at the 11:23 mark, while the second was close to five minutes later at the 6:08 mark. The Bulldog defense was able to stand strong and ultimately held on to get their third district win, 56-54.
STATS— Stutts was 16 of 25 for 351 yards rushing for 133 yards on 27 carries. The Thorndale senior threw five touchdown passes and also had two rushing touchdowns. Clawson had a career-high 236 receiving yards on seven catches while picking up another 30 yards on the ground. Beasley, was also a top receiver for the Bulldogs with five catches for 83 yards and two touchdowns.
‘ BATTLE OF 79’— For the 92nd time in school history, Thorndale and Thrall will face off in the ‘Battle of 79’. Although the Bulldogs have dominated in the past, winning 37 of the last 43 meetings, how good either team is hardly serves as an indicator of who will win this Friday’s game.
Last year, while contending for a district title, the one-win Tigers took down the Milam County squad in overtime, 35-33. The loss was pivotal for the ’Dawgs, who ended up finishing third in district and saw an early exit from the post-season after meeting up with top-ranked Timpson.
This season, the Tigers are 2-5 with one victory in district play through their first three games. Their lone district win was a 21-13 victory over Weimar, the team Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine picked to finish last in District 13-2A-I. Top performers for the Tigers include defensive end Tyler Bonkowski, who won the District 13-2A-I “Newcomer of the Year” award last fall. He’s also the team’s tight end and leads the Tigers in receiving yards with 315 on 26 catches.
Kick-off i n Thrall is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thorndale leads the Battle of ‘79 series 57-31-3.
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