After a stop back home last week, the No. 9-ranked Thurston Colts (8-1) headed back on the road to take on the No. 8-ranked Churchill Lancers (4-3) at Churchill High School with a 7:00 p.m. kickoff on Friday.
With time winding down in the first half and the score knotted at zero, Thurston and junior quarterback Emmit Distefano were chipping their way down the field, hunting for the first score of the defensive showcase. Around the 50-yard line, Distefano took the snap but was met with heavy pressure immediately. He rolled right, scanned and hurled the ball while being smothered, down the field and somehow found the leaping senior tight end Payton Ferriera.
The muscly tight end vaulted the shoulders of the smaller cornerback, snagged the ball, then held on as the traveling Thurston fans roared in excitement. This would only lead to a field goal to make it 3-0, but it sparked the scoring and eventually led to the 27-16 Colts victory.
Leading the way for Thurston was Distefano, who notched a 40-plus-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Bodie Bonar and led his team under center to the win.
“I love his ability to keep his eyes downfield and keep the play alive,” Thurston head coach Justin Starck said. “He’s a gamer and he’s a great kid. He’s smart. He’s a good person. I just can’t say enough about him.”
The Colts were coming off a dominant 44-7 upset win over the Crater Comets a week earlier. In that game, sophomore cornerback Bentlee Davenport snatched three interceptions and took one of those back for a touchdown.
The Lancers were coming off a massacre win of their own as they diced the North Eugene Highlanders 36-6 last Friday.
Defense was the story in the opening quarter as both teams traded off punting to each other the entire period.
Some offense was finally found by the Thurston crew late in the second quarter when Distefano hurled a contested pass down the field to Ferriera. Thurston then raced against the clock to try and quickly find the endzone with no timeouts, but the drive stalled out, and with six seconds left, the Colts spiked the ball and senior kicker Hunter Bagwell sailed a field goal through the uprights to make it 3-0 Colts.
The half ended after the ensuing kickoff, and the defensive battle in the cold sat with a Thurston 3-0 halftime lead.
Whatever the message was to the Colts squad in the halftime locker room clearly worked as Thurston bolted down the field thanks to a long run from senior star running back Justin Fisher, then Distefano connected with Bonar for a massive 40-yard touchdown pass. The lofty throw from Distefano was on the money for Bonar, who fought off his defender and scored. The extra point was green and the Colts led 10-0.
The home field Lancers weren’t going down without a fight as they marched down the field and found the endzone after a receiving touchdown from senior tight end Charlie Dexter. Churchill went for two and converted as Dexter scored again.
With 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Thurston notched a key response with a long drive capped off by a short rushing touchdown from senior running back Cruz Gray. The extra point was good to make it 17-8, Colts.
The Lancers were forced to punt deep in their own territory, which set up Thurston with prime field position. They converted another field goal to make it 20-8 with five minutes to play.
Churchill proved to be alive and well again as it charged down the field and notched itself closer after senior quarterback Lucas Gansen ran in the touchdown and then the two-point conversion. With three minutes left, Thurston was up four with the ball.
The nail-biting anxiety from a rare close Colts match simmered after Thurston masterfully milked the clock down to fifty seconds, then Gray took a handoff and zipped to the endzone for the dagger 15-yard rushing touchdown. That and the extra point made it 27-16, Colts.
Excellent clock management left little time for Churchill to do anything, and time ran out to seal Thurston’s eighth win of the season. “The defense is showing signs of being a really dominant defense,” Starck said. “It just looked amazing for three quarters. We’re really proud of the defensive effort tonight. They hung in there with us and waited for our offense to get going.”
Chipping in two touchdowns, including that dagger, was Gray, who continued his fantastic season as the brute in this dangerous Colts run game.
Thurston will stay on the road next week with a date against the North Eugene Highlanders on Friday, Oct. 24, at 7:00 p.m.
“North Eugene will be high-flying, they always are,” Starck said. “Rick Raish does a good job, and we really want to just continue to try and improve and get better at both sides of the football and play good, sound fundamental ball.”
Churchill will also head on the road next weekend to take on the South Eugene Axe on Friday, Oct. 24 at 7:00 p.m.