Photo By Steve Carter: Kody Bingham follows his block onto the second tier of defenders. Thatcher defeated Valley Christian on Friday, 31-13.
By Jon Johnson
THATCHER – Having more touchdowns than turnovers usually means a good day on the football field. When you have a defense playing as well as Thatcher’s, you have a near-guaranteed victory. Such was the case Friday night when the Thatcher Eagles (3-0 conference, 3-0 overall) defeated the Valley Christian Trojans (1-2 conference, 1-2 overall), 31-13 to avenge two previous 1-point losses to the Trojans last year, including the state playoffs.
“That was heavy on the mind and we talked a lot about that this week and just remember that feeling of being down by a point and wanted to kind of give it back to them,” said Thatcher head football coach Daniel Jones.
The Thatcher Eagles have opened their season 3-0 and have done so behind a relentless and ever-attacking defense that has stifled its first three opponents into just one offensive score. Conversely, Thatcher scored four touchdowns to three turnovers and three punts for the evening.
The game was competitive throughout with Thatcher scoring on its initial drive (missing a PAT that was partially blocked) and Valley Christian answering right back to take its only lead of the night, 7-6.
And while the Trojans next six straight possessions all turned the ball back over to Thatcher (a missed 35-yard field goal, three punts and two turnovers on downs) the game remained up for grabs until the very end when Paxton Echols ended the night with a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown.
“Amazing, absolutely amazing, said Thatcher’s head football coach Daniel Jones. “It’s great to finish that way. It’s just fun. Good times.”
The Eagles first scored on a 48-yard touchdown pass from Chad Johnson to Wil Chidester with 9:32 left in the first quarter.
Valley Christian struck right back on their first possession when Isaiah Macias hit Kristian Schoenhals over the middle on a 3rd and 6 from the 18 for the touchdown. The extra point made it 7-6 Valley with 4:35 left in the first. It would be the Trojans’ only lead of the night.
Valley Christian stole a possession by recovering a bloop onside kick attempt. But the drive ultimately ended on a missed 35-yard field goal attempt.
Kody Bingham started to heat up for Thatcher with some big runs and set up the Eagles in scoring position with a 39-yard jaunt. Tristun Brown then scored on an 8-yard run. The 2-point conversion attempt failed, but Thatcher was back in the lead, 12-7.
The Trojans made a huge goal-line defensive stand late in the second and stopped Thatcher on a 4th and 1 from the 3-yard line with about 3 minutes in the half. However, the offense couldn’t get it out of the hole, and a miscue on the snap on the punt attempt snapped the ball to the upback blocker instead of the punter. The blocker was not expecting the ball and it fumbled and was ultimately turned over to Thatcher for a first and goal from the 5.
The Eagles quickly capitalized on the turnover and Johnson ran it in himself from about 3 yards out to put Thatcher up 19-7 at the half.
Both defenses played to a stalemate in the third quarter, with neither offense able to break the goal line. Then, at the start of the fourth quarter, Valley Christian’s Daniel Hammond knocked the ball loose from a scrambling Chad Johnson. The ball bounced free as multiple Trojans hit Johnson and went off a Trojan helmet and into the arms of Valley Christian’s Ethan Hodgson, who promptly took off 65 yards down the sideline for the TD with only a modicum of effort from Thatcher defenders to stop him. A flag was thrown on the play, however, it was only for holding Daniel Hammond, and the play stood as called as a touchdown for Valley Christian to bring them within a score, 13-19, with 8:53 to play.
The Trojans then got the ball back on a big defensive play as Hodgson came around Johnson’s blind side and sacked him on a 3rd and 17, forcing a punt. Valley Christian got the ball back with 3:43 left in the game and was down just 6 points.
Did I mention earlier that Thatcher has played stout defense so far this year? Well, when it comes down to the nitty gritty; when the rubber meets the road Thatcher is one of those defenses that shows up and shows what it is made of. The Eagles scored a sack on the first play after the punt, ending with Brett Jones’s sack on fourth down to give the ball to Thatcher in scoring position.
With 1:21 left in the game. Bingham ran it in from 8 yards out to put Thatcher up 25-13 and seal the deal. Or so they thought.
Valley – behind new quarterback Jr. Gill who started in the third quarter – continued to fight and Gill hit Calvin Gage on a deep shot that nearly went the distance save for a Ryan Jones tackle averting the score.
With time winding down, the Trojans had the ball on the Eagles’ 2-yard line when Gill fired a shot into the end zone. However, it was Thatcher’s Paxton Echols who was there who stepped in front of a Trojan receiver and took the interception back 100 yards to pay dirt for the touchdown as time expired with the final score 31-13.
“Our defense is pretty tough and I was trusting in them and knowing that, if anything, they were going to make them earn the score and then run out of time, but that (the INT touchdown) is nice icing on the cake right there.”
The Eagles will next fly up to Eagar to take on the Round Valley Elks (0-1 conference, 1-1 overall) on Friday, Sept. 13, starting at 7 p.m. Round Valley lost to Morenci 3-6 and defeated St. Johns 36-0 in its two games.
Thatcher will also host the 4A West Valley powerhouse Yuma Catholic Shamrocks (2-0 conference, 2-0 overall) on Friday, Sept. 20, starting at 7 p.m.
“They’re (Yuma Catholic) going to be a monster but we’re going to go toe-to-toe and see who we are,” coach Daniel Jones said. “That’s all we can ask of them.”
In other local prep action:
The Morenci Wildcats (1-1 conference, 2-1 overall) had to deal with a lightning delay but ultimately defeated Benson at home, 35-25. The Wildcats will next host the 2A Black Pima Roughriders (1-0 conference, 1-1 overall) on Friday, Sept. 13, starting at 7 p.m.
The Safford Bulldogs (0-2 conference, 1-2 overall) debuted their new artificial turf field but fell 13-34 to the Florence Gophers. The Bulldogs will look for their first win on their new field on Friday, Sept. 13, versus the Rincon/University Rangers, starting at 7 p.m.
The Fort Thomas Apaches (2-1 conference, 2-1 overall) lost their first game of the season, 6-40, to the Lincoln Prep Lightning. The Apaches will next travel to visit San Manuel.
The Duncan Wildkats (1-1 conference, 1-2 overall) got their first win of the season Friday at home versus the San Manuel Miners with a 22-16 victory. The Wildkats will next host the St. David Tigers on Friday, Sept. 13, starting at 7 p.m.
