Photo By Stan Bonifacio: Thatcher QB Mark Wren drops back for a pass. Wren tossed two TD’s and the Eagles opened up their season with a 26-0 victory over the Pima Roughriders on Friday night.
By Jon Johnson
PIMA – Thatcher QB Mark Wren tossed two TDs and Jacob Ward and Slade Shupe ran in two more to lift the Eagles (1-0) over the Pima Roughriders (0-1), 26-0, on Friday.
Thatcher was moved up this year to the 3A South Region, and Pima plays in the 2A San Pedro Region.
The game was the season-opener for both squads after the delay due to COVID-19. They played in front of a packed stadium at Edd Hubbard Field in Pima.
Wren exclaimed his joy at being able to be back on the field playing the game he loves.
“It was the best feeling of my life,” he said. “I love playing football more than anything.”
Thatcher head coach Daniel Jones said the game was a learning experience since
“The timeline was all off, so it was hard to get your team together because you didn’t know who could play yet,” Jones said. “There were so many questions. Tonight answered a lot of questions.”
Both teams had a high number of procedure penalties and the dreaded yellow hankey helped stifle the offenses in the first half, pushing them backward instead of forward. Twice Thatcher had fourth-down conversions overturned by penalties, and Pima had a good punt return negated by a call as well.
After heading into halftime knotted up 0-0, the tide turned for the Eagles early in the third quarter when a mishandled snap on a punt led Thatcher to take over on the Roughriders’ own 15-yard line.
Two plays later, Jacob Ward followed a wall of blockers and sprinted into the endzone for the game’s first score, 6-0.
After a Pima punt on their ensuing possession, Ward returned it back into Pima territory and Thatcher was back in business. For most of the game, Pima operated in its own half of the field and Thatcher enjoyed good field position for nearly the entire contest.
With about four minutes left in the third quarter, Wren hit a wide-open James Shumway over the middle for a 10-yard score and Thatcher was up 13-0.
The Eagles’ defense continued to turn up the pressure and a Coy Miller pass was deflected and then intercepted by Brandon Napier.
“Our defense played really well,” Jones said. “Early we lost contain a few times, but overall I think they played really well.”
A few plays after the interception, Wren threw a pretty pass that Napier leaped for and grabbed in the back of the endzone for an 18-yard TD and to put Thatcher up 19-0 early in the fourth quarter.
Pima’s defense never gave up, however, and on an ensuing possession, Wren’s pass into the endzone for Napier was deflected by Austen Ashby and snagged out of the air by Brody Brown for the touchback.
Pima still couldn’t get anything going on offense, however – finishing with 10 punts and one turnover – and gave the ball back to Thatcher.
The Eagles moved downfield behind another big run by Ward, and Slade Shupe finished the drive and the scoring on the night with a 7-yard TD to give Thatcher the 26-0 victory.
“It was fantastic to be out here tonight,” Jones said. “This is what we all wanted. I told the kids beforehand, ‘you know, nothing is guaranteed. It can all be shut down on a whim, so enjoy tonight and let’s work to the next one.”
Thatcher will travel to Snowflake (1-0) on Friday, Oct. 9 to battle a Lobo team that knocked off the preseason ranked No. 1 American Leadership Academy-Gilbert Eagles, 22-20 in their season opener.
Pima will also be on the road and will face the St. Johns Redskins (0-1), who lost 12-38 against the Round Valley Elks in their season opener.
In other local action, the Morenci Wildcats (1-0) utterly destroyed the North Pointe Prep Falcons, 76-0. Morenci will next visit San Tan Charter, which lost 0-61 against Santa Cruz Valley on Friday.
The Duncan Wildkats (0-1) lost their season opener, 14-28, to the Tempe Prep Knights. Duncan will host San Manuel on Friday, Oct. 9.
The Fort Thomas Apaches (0-1) lost 16-32 against the Cicero Prep Centurions (1-0). Fort Thomas will host the Tempe Prep Knights (1-0) on Friday, Oct. 9.
