The Friday night lights beamed down at Thurston High School for the first time this football season as the No. 34-ranked Eagle Point Eagles (0-2) took on the No. 15-ranked Thurston Colts (1-1).
As the clock ticked toward the two-minute mark in the first half, the Colts had the ball around the 50-yard line and were hunting an early dagger as they led 33-0. Junior quarterback Emmit Distefano took the snap, dropped back, stayed patient and lofted one over the middle and into the arms of sophomore wide receiver Bodie Bonar for the touchdown. The extra point sailed through to make it 40-0, and it was all Thurston early.
Leading the way for the Colts offense was senior running back Justin Fisher, who had 11 carries for 126 yards and three touchdowns.
“Really proud of Justin,” Thurston head coach Justin Starck said. “He ran so hard and showed his speed and explosiveness. We’re just tickled to death for him.”
Thurston came into this game off a gut-punch 35-6 road loss to the Silverton Foxes a week before. That gave the Colts their first defeat of the season.
Eagle Point continues to search for its first win of the year as it dropped last week's game against the Yreka Miners 26-6.
Defense turned to offense quickly for the Colts as they forced the Eagles to a three-and-out on their opening drive. After a big pass play that marched them down into the redzone, Fisher muscled his way on the goalline into the endzone to give Thurston the early lead and its first home score of the season.
The Colts offense was able to relax as the defense chipped in on the scoring as senior defensive back Camden Nosack emerged from the ruckus and jumped the Eagles’ pass over the middle and took it all the way back for a pick-six that extended the Colts’ lead to 14-0 after the extra point.
“It felt really good to see that type of defensive effort,” Starck said. “They were really flying around. I’m very, very proud of our defense.”
Eagle Point’s offense stayed dormant as Thurston forced it off the field again on its next drive. The Colts picked up right where they left off as Fisher burst to the left side on a rush and took it all the way down within the Eagles’ five-yard line. Two plays later, Fisher finished what he started and punched it in for his second touchdown of the game.
After one quarter of play, Thurston was out in front and cruising due to big plays on defense and flashy running from Fisher.
Thurston had the ball to begin the second quarter and drained the clock on a slow, methodical drive that was capped off with the third rushing touchdown of the game from the Colts, this time by junior running back Logan Raube as he dashed up the middle for the score. After the extra point, it was 28-0 Colts.
After the Eagles’ defense continued to stall, the Colts took advantage again as Distefano rolled left and slung a college-level dime on the sideline that put Thurston in field goal range. Their drive stalled, but the field goal was green from junior kicker Sam Castanza to make it 31-0.
The Eagles were forced to punt again, but this time the snap was high and shot out the back of the endzone, giving the Colts the safety and a 33-0 lead.
Thurston notched the 40-mark after the defense clamped down on the Eagle Point offense again, and this time the score was via the pass as Distefano found Bonar for the score and the 40-0 lead.
Fisher’s dominant day continued as he rushed for his third touchdown of the game on the opening drive of the second half to push the score to 47-0 in Thurston’s favor.
Slow drives from both teams milked the third quarter clock, and with one quarter to play, it was 47-0 Colts.
It was the same story in the fourth as the clock ran due to the deficit, and the quarter flew by. On the last play of the game, Eagles freshman quarterback Laiden Johnson zipped up the middle for a rushing touchdown and the first score of the game for Eagle Point.
With the massacre 47-6 win, the Colts improve to 2-1 and the Eagles fall to 0-3 as the hunt for the first win of the season continues.
Despite the blowout win, Starck still sees holes in his squad early in the year.
“Our passing game’s not good,” Starck said. “We had some breakdowns in the inside run game, some tackles for loss, we still got a lot to work on. It’s early in the year. Even though we have a lot of seniors, we have some areas where we’re young and inexperienced, and so we’re just going to continue to grow in those areas and work on those. But there are a lot of bright spots. A lot of good things that we saw, things we can build on. Obviously, there’s weaknesses that will be exposed by better teams.”
Also chipping in for the Thurston offense was Bonar, who had five catches for 135 yards and a touchdown.
The Eagles head back home next week as they take on the North Eugene Highlanders on Friday, Sept. 19, at 7:00 p.m.
The Colts stay at home for their week four matchup as they face off against the South Eugene Axe on Friday, Sept. 19, at 7:00 p.m.