SPRINGFIELD – The bragging rights for best football team in Springfield will remain with the Thurston Colts after their 47-20 win against the Springfield Millers last night. Thurston had a slow start, but was led by a rushing attack that racked up 325 yards and 4 touchdowns.
“Just proud of them for responding,” said Justin Starck, Thurston head coach. “They started pretty slow and were a bit sluggish, and really responded well.”
“I thought we made a lot of great plays tonight. I thought we proved to ourselves tonight that we can play with these guys,” said Miles Haley, Springfield head coach.
The game started well for the Millers as quarterback Caeleb Kasperek threw a 29-yard pass to Jackson Babbitt on the first play of the game. Five plays later Dwayne Fotta took a jet sweep and cut back across the field for a 33-yard touchdown run to put Springfield up 6-0 just two minutes in.
“I think we were just getting our guys in space, which was the plan,” said Haley. “Obviously Fotta is a special, special player.”
Thurston’s first offensive drive stalled after just one first down, and the Millers were on the march again after a 62-yard pass from Kasperek to Fotta to get Springfield in the red zone. The Colts defense righted the ship after that play, and stopped the Millers on 4th-and-7 on the Colt 18-yard line to force a turnover-on-downs. The stop was the first of four the Colts defense got on fourth-down tries.
“We made some adjustments, we were getting outflanked on the outside,” Starck said. “We just made some adjustments to try and offset what they were doing, and our assistant coaches did a really nice job and the kids adapted and overcame.”
“Those are things that, going back in the film Sunday, Monday, like, ‘Hey, guys, this is what we can be,’” Haley said. “If we finished this drive, you know, not living in a hypothetical world, but, if we score two more touchdowns in the first half, it’s probably a little different game.”
The Colts took advantage of the turnover-on-downs and put together a 12-play, 77-yard touchdown drive. Thurston quarterback Noah Blair hit tight end Luke Newell over the middle on 4th-and-8, and Newell took a Miller defender with him into the endzone for the 23-yard score, putting Thurston up 7-6 after the extra point.
The Millers drove down once again into Thurston territory, but the Colts once again stopped them on fourth down. Two plays later running back Will Dau took a handoff left and ran 61 yards for a touchdown to put Thurston up 14-6 with just over five minutes left in the half, a score that held at the end of the first half. Dau finished the game with 119 yards rushing.
The third quarter was all Thurston, as the Colts took the opening second-half possession right down for a score on an 8-yard sweep from running back Darien Witham. The Colts defense forced a Springfield three-and-out, and scored five plays later on a rollout pass from Blair to Ethan Burkhead, putting Thurston up 26-6 barely five minutes into the third quarter.
“As the game wore on, they got more and more confident and just played better. And I was really proud of them,” Starck said.
Both teams’ offenses stalled for most of the quarter after that, but Thurston regained possession with two minutes left and put together another scoring drive. The Colts punched it in at the beginning of the fourth quarter on another rollout pass from Blair, this time 15-yards to Walker Bonar. The touchdown put Thurston up 33-6, essentially putting the game away with 10 minutes left.
“They just got the better of us in the third quarter. Their program is really established and good, and, kudos to them for finishing that third quarter,” said Haley.
Springfield never stopped fighting, and after forcing a Dau fumble that Savion Whitehurst recovered, the Millers scored on a 28-yard pass from Kasperek to Fotta. The Colts rushing attack proved too much though, as Vaun Halstead took a dive up the middle and galloped 61 yards for the touchdown on Thurston’s next drive, putting the Colts up 40-14.
“I love it,” Starck said of the rushing attack. “We wanted to take what they give and if we can get the yards on the ground, we’re just gonna take it. So it was, it was plentiful, and I wasn’t gonna stop doing it.”
“Down the road, for sure there’s gonna be adjustments we make. Coming into this week, we wanted to streamline our defensive scheme a little bit,” said Haley. “Kudos to them for sticking with the run. I thought we took care of a lot of other things. And just up the middle, they got us.”
Both teams scored once more, as Holton Halstead scored on a 15-yard run for the Colts before Fotta took the kickoff and returned it 90 yards for a touchdown, putting the final score at 47-20 in favor of Thurston, ensuring the rivalry trophy stays in Thurston.
“They have a good team this year and we knew they had a legitimate shot to take that thing away from us,” Starck said. “So we made it a point to make sure those boys held serve and held on to that trophy for one more year.”
Stats:
Thurston top performers:
Noah Blair: 7-for-12, 106 yards, 3 TDs
Will Dau: 12 rushes, 119 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT (defense)
Vaun Halstead: 10 rushes, 102 yards, 1 TD, 10 tackles
Darien Witham: 8 rushes, 74 yards, 1 TD
Luke Newell: 2 catches, 37 yards, 1 TD
Walker Bonar: 2 catches, 43 yards , 1 TD
Romynn Schaeffer: 4 tackles, 1 INT
Springfield top performers:
Caeleb Kasperek: 14-for-26, 191 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs, 15 rushes, 42 yards
Connor Dye: 16 rushes, 59 yards, 2 catches, 7 yards
Dwayne Fotta: 3 catches, 98 yards, 1 TD, 1 rush, 33 yards, 1 TD, 90-yard KR for TD
Zach Sherman: 3 catches, 46 yards
