TEXHOMA — For the second season in a row, the Thomas-Fay-Custer Terriers football team are district champions, by beating Texhoma, 13-7.
“I am extremely proud of the way we competed all season long,” coach Bob Ward said. “We feel like we have one of the toughest districts in the state and I cannot say enough about how well we competed all season long.”
The first quarter was a defensive showdown and the score was tied, 0-0. In the second quarter, Thomas got its offense going with plays like Jaxon Ward finding Owen Baldwin open on a screen pass. Ward threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Rainwater, putting the Terriers up 7-0.
In the third quarter, Texhoma put a drive together, but they fumbled and Parker Payne recovered the fumble. The score was 7-0 going into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Texhoma scored a touchdown to tie the game 7-7. Thomas responded with plays like Ward finding Rainwater open on a short curl route. Ward scored a short rushing touchdown, putting Thomas ahead 13-7 late in the game.
This game came down to the wire as Texhoma drove the length of the field, but Jaxen Mannering had an interception in the end zone and Thomas won the game 13-7.
“It was a sigh of relief when Jaxen caught the ball,” Ward said. “He made a great play and it was nice because we officially won the district.”
Thomas finishes its regular season with a record of 6-0 in district and 8-1 overall. Thomas will be off this week, but will play the winner of Bums Flat-Dill City or Cordell. Those two teams will play this Friday in the first round of the playoffs.
“Anytime you can get extra rest this time of the year is a huge advantage,” Ward said. “It also allows us to fine tune some things such as our special teams. We are going to fix this this week in practice and are going to focus on doing the little things right”
Ward said the team cannot look ahead and must focus in practice. He said doing the little things right is key to advancing in the playoffs.
‘This time of year, there are no do overs,” Ward said. “We have to understand it takes one bad game for our season to end. We are going to watch a film and look at any problems we have. The little things could prevent us from winning games, so we really need to address some of the small things and get those fixed this week and next week.”