The last time Kyle Miller touched the football field as a quarterback he was still a freshman, a young dual-threat athlete looking to light up the field on Friday nights. That was three years ago for Miller, slinging the ball on junior varsity and being the starter for the Thurston Colts.
Three years later on a random Monday night, Miller was asked to once again suit up as the starting quarterback for Thurston's rival game against Springfield. Miller faced this challenge head on after not seeing the field at quarterback for three years.
“When he found out he would start tonight, he didn’t flinch,” head coach Justin Starck said. “The confidence he had after not playing (quarterback) for two years, and jump out there in a big game, gives confidence to everyone.”
The Thurston Colts had a record of 3-0 before this rival match with Springfield High School, who were 0-3. The distance between Thurston and Springfield spans about five miles but this rivalry runs deeper than just five miles. It's been nine years since Springfield has won this match-up. Tonight, unfortunately, that number rose to 10 as Miller and the Colts would crumble their competition.
Miller did have early game jitters to get out, before coming out of his shell against Springfield, Miller had a fumble on the 25-yard line but Thurston’s defense made sure it didn’t cost them. After an early mistake, Miller wouldn’t turn the ball over for the rest of the game and would go on to throw for three touchdowns.
Miller had opened the first half with wide receiver Caleb Jones on a 25-yard touchdown to strike first against Springfield. Miller wouldn’t stop there, though. He would continue to stretch the field for Thurston, which eventually led to a 15-yard passing touchdown to David Macdonald. That would be the first of two touchdowns for Macdonald — Miller and Macdonald’s chemistry was alive and there was only more to come.
“Miller did great and he stepped up for us in a big way tonight,” wide receiver Macdonald said.
Miller would go on and connect to Macdonald again on a huge 23-yard passing touchdown to drive the score to 20 before halftime. The duo shared multiple big moments, and one 37-yard pass to McDonald's put Thurston in scoring position. However, the throw and gain was called back due to offensive holding.
“David and I played ball since we were young, built from seven on seven and JV,” Miller said. “He was my target. He was my guy and he makes great adjustments.”
Miller and Thurston had gone on to play dominant football against Springfield, the early mistakes didn’t dictate the team's energy and focus. The Colts’ defense shut down Springfield’s quarterback Noah Solo in the first half. The Colts had only allowed 30 total yards of offense in the first half.
Springfield is known for running quarterback options and using Solo to tear up the field, but against Thurston they stood no chance.
The task of stopping the run was a big part of the game plan against Springfield. Thurston found a way to be aggressive on the line and make Solo feel uncomfortable.
Solo wouldn’t just struggle against the Colts in the run game but the passing game as well. Solo wouldn’t have a 20+ passing play all night. Along with the struggle to pass the ball, Solo had trouble being comfortable in the pocket. The Colts' defense roughed him up through the night and even forced an interception with 48 seconds left in the first half.
Just as things looked gloomy for the Springfield Millers to start the second half, Ashden Weiler, running back for Thurston, would fumble a handoff giving Springfield prime field position.
Solo would go on and take matters into his own hands by rushing for a 10-yard touchdown, cutting the deficit from 20-0 to 20-7.
Thanks to a Colts fumble, Springfield finally looked as if it was going to flip the script on its rivals. However, in life, sometimes what goes around comes around. This was true for Springfield as it would muff a punt on its own 20-yard line giving the Colts a chance to score.
Miller wasn’t done with the change of pace for his Colts. The Colts would go on and run a flea-flicker trick play to extend their lead again. The clock read 5:30 left in the third quarter but it felt that Springfield had conceded after the trick.
Miller wasn’t the only Colt head hunting for the spotlight, Weiler made sure his name was etched in lights against Springfield too. Weiler had a multitude of huge rushes throughout the game but none were more important than his 26-yard rush late in the third. Weiler's rush kept the Colts' drive alive and chewed more clock for them. This would eventually lead to a Cruz Gray rushing touchdown to up the score to 32-7.
Along with Weiler and Gray, there was another Colt waiting in the wings for his moment. Drayton Young, punt returner, would go on and seal the rivalry match-up for Thruston by returning a 65-yard punt to the house. This truly was the icing on a sweet sweet victory for Thurston against Springfield.
Springfield fought with all its might but it just couldn’t handle the heavy-hitting Colts on Friday. The rivalry ended once again at the hands of Thurston, bringing the win streak up to 10 against Springfield.
The Thurston Colts will travel for their next match-up against the Roseburg Indians on Sept. 27.