Black and Blue

Large crowds filled the sidelines to watch a heated game last Friday night in Plains as the Thompson Falls Bluehawks battled the Savage Horsemen to come away with a 12-6 victory.

The Bluehawks started the night with a touchdown by running back Richard Lyons who darted into the end zone with a four-yard rush. A failed two-point conversion followed to earn the team six points in the first quarter.

Running back and starter Hayden Cristaldi was injured early in the game with an ankle injury. This forced Thompson Falls to alter many of the strategies and plays that they had originally set.

Overcoming the loss of one of their key players, the Bluehawks continued in the second quarter with yet another touchdown, this time by running back Tom Zimmerman who caught a 10-yard pass into the end zone. The touchdown, that was also followed by another failed two-point conversion, brought the team to 12-0.

The touchdown would be the last for night and in the next half the Bluehawks would have to play a battle of attrition as the third quarter turned out to be a stalemate with neither team able to score and Plains completing a significant touchdown in the fourth quarter to bring the score to 12-6, Bluehawks.

The clutch play of the night came in at the end of the fourth quarter with only about one minute on the clock when at the Bluehawks own 11-yard line. The Horsemen were aiming for a completion that would allow the team another overtime chance, or with a good kick, the win.

Homecoming hopes aside, the play was not to be as quarterback Reiley Winebrenner wasn't able to find a clear enough opening for the pass. The Horsemen also had a number of penalty's that only pushed them farther from the end zone. At the end of the night Thompson Falls let loose a sigh of relief when quarter back Will Dalby ended the game by taking a knee.

“We had two or three chances to put it away at the end and we just couldn't do it When you have an exciting end like that it's just an great thing, you just want that outcome to be different,” Seth Petit said and complemented his athletes who he said were making a big difference to improve their football program by giving everything they got.”

Coach Padden was impressed as well with the heart and effort that the Horsemen showed. “Their passing game is there. At 6'9” Reiley Weinbrenner is quicker than heck, they're firing on a lot of cylinders this year and they're hard to prepare for. They have multiple sets that are difficult to prepare for,” Padden said.

Yet, when asked about what was the defining factor that allowed the Bluehawks to push past the Horsemen Padden had nothing but compliments for the hard work of his defense.

“We saw what they did with Eureka and were ready for a tough game we expected it to be tough but defense won it for us, defense won this game all out,” Padden said. “I have so much more faith in our line now, after this game, than I ever did. They did such a good job.”

The Bluehawk coach added that on of his favorite part of the night was when he saw watching as they scored their final touchdown of the night. “Seeing my Zimmerman kid actually catch a ball for a touch down was pretty awesome, that half back pass for the touchdown was something we've been working on,” Padden said.

He also said that the turnout from both Plains and Thompson Falls was a real testament to him of the wonderful support the football programs receive from the community.

“To see Plains sideline as full as it was, to see our sidelines as full as it was, those are kind of the non-game deals that show the support that we get from these communities to help these programs,” Padden said.

Defensive Coordinator Chadd Laws was also happy with the win and especially with all of the scrambling the team had to do to fill three of their starter positions. He said that both Coach Padden and himself would be trying to focus the team for next week when they play Eureka.

“Right now we've got to get healed up, if you count Hayden Cristaldi we're missing three starters, with two of them two-way starters in this game, so we need to get healed up because we know that Eureka is going to bring in a lot of talent into Thompson too,” Laws said about Thompson Falls own homecoming game next week.

Over the course of the night Bluehawks Richard Lyons tallied up 109 rushing yards and added a win 1-0 for their first conference game of the season and 4-1 overall.

Plains on the other hand came away with 0-2 for their second conference game and a 1-4 overall standing. The Horsemen quarterback Winebrenner totaled 71 yards rushed and 102 thrown. Probably, the biggest set back for the Horsemen was a total of 80 yards in penalties.