The Thrall Tigers varsity football team got a bounce-back win 59-28 versus the Johnson City Eagles on Friday, Sept. 27. Tigers junior running back Christopher Helm led the offense with over 100 rushing yards and two touchdowns as the Thrall ground game was dominant, scoring six total touchdowns.
Thrall senior quarterback Chance Parker also had an impressive showing, contributing both through the air and on the ground, accounting for two passing and two rushing touchdowns. His top target was senior wide receiver Landon Gregory, who ran in a touchdown after catching a tipped pass. Senior Nick Trueter also scored on a touchdown pass from Parker.
The game started as a defensive struggle, with both teams failing to score a touchdown in the first quarter. However, Thrall got on the scoreboard first with a field goal from junior kicker Alejandro Estrada, making it 3-0. Johnson City struck back with a goal-line touchdown run, making it 7-3 early in the second quarter. Estrada also made an impressive 42-yard field goal later in the game.
After taking the lead, the Tigers controlled the rest of the game, scoring on a pair of rushing touchdowns from senior running back Avery Gomez and Helm to make it 17-7 going into halftime. Gomez had one rushing touchdown, while Helm accounted for two.
The Tigers didn’t look back in the second half, scoring six touchdowns to put the game away as the Eagles couldn’t stop Thrall’s dominant offense. Defensively, the Tigers were also impressive, with the defensive line wreaking havoc in the backfield. Senior defensive lineman Trace Riggs led the way with three sacks on the night. Head Coach Aaron Vanecek shared insight into how his team was able to apply so much pressure.
“We were able to do a few different things to free up some guys on some one-on-ones and get some better angles to rush and get penetration. A big key for us was winning the line of scrimmage, and our guys did a great job tonight,” he said.
Other notable players on the defensive side included senior linebacker Travis Matthews and senior defensive back Maverick McAllister, who both had interceptions. This was a huge bounce-back win for the Tigers after losing to Troy last week. Vanecek shared his thoughts on the victory.
“We went back to last year. We had a really bad road game in Week 4, and we were able to bounce back from it,” Vanecek said. “So, we just kind of told them all week that if we put in the work, we could play a complete game, and that ended up happening against a pretty scrappy Johnson City team.”
Thrall improves to 4-1 on the year and will play its last non-district game next week as they go on the road to face the Hempstead Bobcats on Friday, Oct. 4. The game kicks off at 7 p.m.
