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By Derek Shore (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Pierce City, Mo – The Thayer Bobcats are no strangers to having success in the district playoffs.
In fact, the Bobcats have appeared in a district title game each of the last three years now.
On Friday night, No. 3 seeded Thayer continued their winning ways, upsetting No. 1 seeded Pierce City with a 14-0 shutout win en route to a remarkable three-peat of Class 1, District 2 championship game.
“It feels great,” Bobcats senior defensive stalwart Remington Childers said. “Get to show and lead these younger guys on how to (win a district title) and lead as an example for next year as they grow and become better.
“It feels great, it’s awesome,” senior running back Garrett Young added, who reached paydirt twice and ran for 112 of Thayer’s 187 total yards on 27 carries. “I love it.”
In a game that featured two potent offenses, the defenses of both team’s took over in the do-or-die matchup.
The Bobcats drew first blood with a 10-play, 66-yard drive which was capped by a touchdown run by Young, tumbling over tacklers to pound in the only points of the first half from two yards out. Jett Haven set-up the touchdown with a 36-yard run earlier in the drive.
Young was used heavily for offense in the first half, receiving 16 carries on Thayer’s 25 total offensive plays.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
The Eagles had their best chance to score on their fourth drive in the first half, moving the ball on the Bobcats 30 yard-line before two sacks and a holding call combined with a loss of 27 yards and eventually resulted in a punt.
Thayer’s defense made their presence known early, dominating Pierce City quarterback Gage Brown and Co.
“Our game plan was just to shut it down,” Childers said. “They ran a lot of different stuff. We were trying to adjust to their offense and how they motioned a lot. Just trying to adjust.”
Coming out of the locker rooms, the Eagles and Bobcats had a pair of quick three-and-outs and swapped punts before Pierce City got the ball to Thayer’s 36-yard line as the third quarter closed.
Enter the Bobcats defense.
Thayer forced a loss of four yards to the Eagles offense followed by an incomplete pass which gave the Bobcats possession again with 10:26 left to play in the game.
“Our defense has played well all year,” Thayer head coach Billy Webber said. “We just got to continue to do that. Last week we were challenged to keep those guys in front of us and challenged again this week.
“With their formations, their motions, their quarterback, and dual running threat with their running backs, our guys rose to the occasion and continue to do that.
“Our defense is solid,” Young said. “There was a couple of pass plays we could have done better on, but this whole night, we were hitting them every time, every play.”
On their final drive of the night, the Bobcats had their most steady drive of the night. Soaking up nearly three and a minutes off the clock, a 13-play drive was culminated by a short one-yard touchdown plunge from Young with 3:29 remaining in the contest.
“We set that up with a couple of sweeps and got down here close, particularly on the second one,” Webber said of Young’s touchdown runs. “Just kept running a power pitch and that is typically a play that is good for us. It is for sure good here late in the game.”
Young’s final touchdown run was the capper for Thayer as they went on to win 14-0.
“We just managed to make one or two more plays than what they did,” Webber said. “They threw the ball downfield a couple of times. We happened to be just right there to tip it away. Just really a defensive battle.”
Webber didn’t fail to credit an undefeated Pierce City team, who lost to the Bobcats by a final of 40-13 in the district semifinals just last year.
“We tried to run a couple of different formations,” Webber said. “We had success once or twice. They started blitzing those inside backers and shut that down. We knew coming in they looked more physical and more seasoned.
“They for sure were. A lot of credit to them.”
With the win, Thayer improved to 9-3 and will now set their sights on perennial state power Valle Catholic on Sat., Nov. 11.
“(Valle) is a very explosive team,” Webber said. “Valle is probably as seasoned as anybody in the playoffs. They’re always, always awfully good.”
