Written By: Griffin Bowes
After a slow start, the Thurston Colts are hoping to improve to 2-2 with a road win over the Crater Comets of Central Point, located around 150 miles south of Eugene. Around a week ago, the talk surrounding the Thurston program was anything but pleasant. Coming off of a 9-3 season, the Colts severely underperformed in their first two games. They lost by 29 points at Wilsonville in their season opener, and then returned home for another 20+ point loss against Summit. Luckily, they were able to right the ship and rebound last week with a convincing win over North Eugene, their first game in league play. With momentum on their side, a win against league-member Crater would go a long way for the Colts this season.
Junior starting quarterback Noah Blair has played great to start the season. Over just 3 games, he has thrown for almost 900 yards, with an average of 12.1 yards per completion. He has not played a game this season with a completion percentage under 70%. Against North Eugene, Thurston QB Noah Blair completed 76% of his passes for 348 yards and 6 touchdowns, his season high in all categories. He also has a fair bit of help in the receiving core, as over 5 players have over 100 receiving yards this season. Senior Luke Newell leads all receivers with 230 yards, averaging 14.4 yards per catch. Where they are more limited is on the ground. Outside of Ashden Weiler who is averaging 8 yards per carry, the Colts don’t have any other reliable option here.
The defense has potential, but it could also become a season-long concern for Thurston. While they are doing a great job of rotating through a variety of players, the diversity has prevented them from finding a couple breakout players. There are around 30 players with at least one tackle, but no player with over 20. Only 7 players are in the double-digits. The bigger issue for them might be their inability to disrupt the pocket. Thurston only has one sack this season, and they have only forced 5 turnovers (3 INT, 2 fumbles)
While there is some reason for optimism within the Thurston program thanks to last week’s win, things are looking really dire for Crater. They sit at 0-3, with two of their losses coming by at least 30 points. Their junior QB Ben Higginson has only completed 44% of his passes this season, for a 3-game total of just over 225 yards. He has also thrown 5 interceptions. While they have a couple potential playmakers on the ground, as well as Kyle Petty’s consistent performance as a receiver, it is obvious that the program has limited roster depth and is lacking firepower. The struggles continue on defense, as Crater has not claimed a sack or interception.
Being at home, I can see Crater possibly jumping out to a hot start, but I do believe that the major depth discrepancy between the two teams will play out in the second half.
FINAL SCORE: THURSTON 41, CRATER 17