By Jon Johnson
THATCHER – Facing a 4th and 5 from the Longhorns’ six-yard line with 34 seconds left to play, Ryan Jones raced around the right side for his second rushing touchdown of the night to secure victory for the Thatcher Eagles, 20-10 over visiting Payson.
“That was a great game,” said Thatcher head coach Daniel Jones. “Great football game. That’s a great football team that we went up against. We’re battling back and forth like great games should be; Chad made a great interception; we’re driving down here, and we went to the timeout, and they said, ‘believe in us,’ and we did and scored, and there we go. It was beautiful.”
Thatcher scored on its first two drives and its final drive, and in between, its smothering defense limited an otherwise high-powered offensive juggernaut to just one TD and a field goal, roughly 30 points less than usual.
Ryan Jones led the offense and bookended the scoring on fourth-down runs of 15 yards and 6 yards. He finished with 60 yards on 10 rushes.
Quarterback Chad Johnson went 8-11 for 62 yards and a rushing touchdown on offense, and had a timely interception on defense in the fourth quarter and a big-time goal-line stop.
Thatcher’s bend but don’t break defense was on full display, but none more so than just before the half, with the Longhorns driving.
Thatcher was leading 14-0 when Payson quarterback Nolan Keeney hit Bert Scheer in the flat, and Scheer broke a tackle and had an angle to the pylon. Just as Scheer looked to cross the goal line, Johnson came out of nowhere to knock him out of bounds.
“That was huge,” coach Jones said. “Our defense played pretty well tonight. We had a couple mental letdowns, but we were physical and we played pretty well.”
Payson then had a first and goal from inside the 1-yard line, but Thatcher’s front line pounced on the snap, and Keeney was sacked for an 8-yard loss. The Longhorns ultimately settled for a 25-yard field goal and went into halftime without tasting the end zone grass and Thatcher up 14-3.
Each team only had one possession in each of the first two quarters, and Thatcher made the most of it offensively by scoring touchdowns each time.
The Eagles opened up the game with a mix of rushes and passes. Smith Mangum got the ball rolling with a first down, then Johnson found Dylan Riney for a big third-down reception that took the Eagles into Longhorns’ territory.
Ryan Jones capped the opening drive with the first of two touchdowns on the night when he took the reverse 15 yards for the score. The extra point was blocked, but Thatcher led early 6-0 with 6:41 left in the opening quarter.
The Eagles’ defense forced the Longhorns to punt on their initial drive eventually, and Thatcher went right back to the air with the Johnson to Riney connection moving the chains.
Thatcher faced a pivotal 3rd and 17, and Johnson scrambled for 18 yards to keep the drive alive. He then culminated the series with a 1-yard TD plunge. That was followed by a 2-point conversion run by Josiah Matagaono, and Thatcher was up 14-0.
Payson’s defense stepped up its pressure in the third quarter, forcing a turnover on downs, a fumble recovery, and a punt.
After a sack and another defensive tackle set the Eagles a 4th and 15, Thatcher looked to punt but Braden Bryce mishandled the snap and decided to take off with it instead. He nearly made the first down marker, but Cadyn Sanchez took him down with a nice open field tackle for the turnover.
With the momentum from that play, the Longhorns began to pummel the middle with Nathan Tsosie, who piled up the yards to give Payson a 1st and goal from the 7 eventually.
That’s where Marco Guereque burst through to break the ice for Payson and cut into Thatcher’s lead 14-10 with 6:22 left in the third.
And on Thatcher’s next possession, Matagaono had the ball knocked out, and Payson’s Milo Sproul recovered it to give the Longhorns the ball at the Eagles’ 25-yard line.
Thatcher’s defense held at the pivotal time in the game and forced a punt. The Eagles’ defense would force two more turnovers – a fumbled pitch recovered by Braden Bryce and Johnson’s interception – but they could not capitalize on them with points.
Instead, the Eagles had to play the field position game, and their Special Teams did it perfectly near the end of the game as Braden Bryce pinned the Longhorns at their own 5-yard line as his punt went out of bounds.
Thatcher’s defense then engulfed Payson for three straight plays, and the Longhorns were forced to punt out of their own end zone. The ball went back to Thatcher at the Longhorns’ 32.
With the game on the line, the Eagles made the most of the superb starting field position and fed senior running back Ryan Jones, who got a first down at the 21 and then another at the 11.
And when faced with a 4th and 5 from the 6 with 34 seconds left to play, Jones took the handoff around the right side untouched for the deciding score. The extra point was blocked (again), but it mattered not as the Eagles doubled up the Longhorns 20-10 with less than 30 seconds left to play.
Lineman Travis Larson made several plays in the backfield against Payson. He commented on the positives of playing other good teams.
“We needed to get punched in the mouth so we could prove we are the dogs we think we are, and we can actually play,” Larson said. “I’m just glad for my brothers for picking me up and picking each other up and actually playing some ball tonight.”
Thatcher (4-0 region, 7-1 overall) will look for its sixth win in a row and to seal the 3A East Region at home on Thursday, Oct. 23, against the Sabino Sabercats (2-2 region, 3-5 overall), starting at 7 p.m.
“We’re sitting in the top of our region,” coach Jones said. “We take care of Sabino, that should be the championship, and that was one of our goals. Put a check mark on that box and work on the next one.”
In other local prep action:
The Pima Roughriders (3-1 region, 5-4 overall) have put together a four-game win streak after defeating Madison Highland 61-0 on Friday. The Riders will host the Chandler Prep Titans (3-1 region, 7-2 overall) on Friday, Oct. 24, starting at 7 p.m. in a 2A Region Crossover game. The game will be Pima’s last regular-season game and will serve as the Riders’ homecoming.
The Morenci Wildcats (2-2 region, 5-4 overall) fell to St. Johns 12-21. The Wildcats will next host the Arete Prep Chargers on Friday, Oct. 24, starting at 7 p.m. in a 2A Region Crossover game.
The Safford Bulldogs (1-3 region, 2-6 overall) fell to Pusch Ridge 0-48. The Bulldogs next host the Florence Gophers (2-2 region, 4-4 overall) on Friday, Oct. 24, starting at 7 p.m.
The Willcox Cowboys (3-0 region, 8-1 overall) defeated Benson 26-17. Willcox will next travel to face the Tanque Verde Hawks on Friday, Oct. 24, starting at 7 p.m.
The Duncan Wildkats (2-2 region, 4-5 overall) defeated the Mayer Wildcats 42-22 in their final regular-season game.
