Blue Hawks rout Horsemen, 51-6, on homecoming

By CHUCK BANDEL

Valley Press

Gonna sing a little song, ‘bout some Blues going on, at a place called Previs Field.

And it goes something like this….ba da da da down.

“Been feeling kinda run over, after the Pardee last night,

And when I looked up, Sparks was flying by,

The big fella called Cody, he done made me cry,

And when I tried to move, the defense wouldn’t let me by.”

That may be a crude rendition of what opponents of the Thompson Falls Blue Hawks, make that Blues Hawks, have been feeling this year.

Friday night they ran their season record to a perfect 6-0 with a convincing 51-6 homecoming win over Sanders County rival Plains.

Senior running back Kade Pardee ran for four touchdowns, including three in the opening quarter, and hauled in a touchdown pass from quarterback Roman Sparks as the Blue Hawks jumped to a devastating early lead and cruised by the Horsemen in Thompson Falls.

Sparks, who threw two touchdown passes and ran for another on the night, got the hosts off to a quick start when he capped a swift T Falls opening drive with a three-yard quarterback sneak. A successful two-point after touchdown conversion put the Blue Hawks up 8-0 with less than two minutes gone in the first quarter.

The Thompson Falls defense, which had pitched four consecutive shutouts coming into Friday’s game, then stuffed the first Plains possession and forced a punt, which shanked off the foot of Horsemen punter/quarterback Tristan Subatch, giving the Blue Hawks the ball on the Plains 30 yard line.

The Hawks took quick advantage of the miscue, as Pardee broke free on a 30-yard scoring romp that put Thompson Falls up 15-0 just over three minutes into the game.

Plains was unable to move the ball on its second possession and another short punt put the ball back in Blue Hawks control, this time from their own 22. Two plays later, following a long pass from Sparks, Thompson Falls had the ball on the Plains five yard line. Pardee wasted no time punching into the end zone on the next snap of the ball, giving T Falls a commanding 23-0 lead with 4:08 to go in the opening quarter.

Once again, the Blue Hawks defense clamped down on the Horsemen, forcing another punt that set the Hawks up with the ball on the six-yard line. Pardee scored again from six yards out with 1:04 left in the first quarter, boosting the Blue Hawks’ lead to 29-0.

With the first quarter in the rearview mirror, Plains was once again forced to punt and Thompson Falls took over on its own 10. A yardage eating completion by Sparks and a penalty on the Horsemen paved the way for a 40-yard scoring TD from Sparks to tight end Derek Andersen. A successful PAT put the Blue Hawks ahead 37-0 with just over nine minutes to play in the first half.

The score also set in motion the 35-point mercy rule and a non-stop clock, except for changes of possession, timeouts or injuries.

Still unable to move the ball, Plains was forced into a turnover by loss of downs, returning the ball to Blue Hawks control at their own 21. From there Sparks and Pardee broke free for a series of ground gobbling runs that moved the ball to first and goal at the Plains four yard line.

Pardee plowed through the Horsemen defense for his fourth running TD of the game, giving the Blue Hawks a 45-0 lead with time running out in the first half.

Plains came out to start the second half with renewed energy and moved the ball downfield following a Thompson Falls kickoff.

But after moving to the Thompson 22 yard line behind the passing and running of Subatch, the Horsemen drive stalled and gave the ball back to the Blue Hawks on downs.

This time the Blue Hawks’ scoring duo of Sparks and Pardee took the aerial route, culminating in Pardee hauling in what would be a 49-yard touchdown pass/run from Sparks with 3:40 left in quarter number three. That score put the hosts ahead 51-0, a lead they maintained heading into the final quarter of the game.

With just over nine minutes to go in the game, Plains managed to do what no other team had done in the past four games. Subatch found tight end Tucker Foster in the end zone for six points, the first points the Blue Hawks had surrendered since an opening game win over Mission.

Plains would mount one more drive before the final gun, but that drive was snuffed out with an interception by T Falls’ Andersen, who returned it 62 yards.

From there the rapidly moving clock ran out, sealing the homecoming win for the Blue Hawks.

The loss squared Plains’ season mark at 2-2. Next up for the Horsemen is a 1 p.m. home game against Mission this Saturday.

Thompson Falls takes its unblemished record on the road for a Friday evening game with Troy.