The Thomas Terriers opened up their 2020 football season with a 47-26 win against Alva on their new turf field Friday.
Running back, Ethan Hamberlin, and quarterback, Jackson Ward, were the stars of the show. Both scoring three touchdowns a piece.
Alva was the first to score with a touchdown pass, the extra point was no good making the Goldbugs go up 6-0 with 10 minutes remaining in the first quarter. The Terriers quickly answered with a 4 yard touchdown pass from Jackson Ward. The extra pint was good and the Terriers were on top 7-6 with 9:11 remaining in the first.
A turnover on downs from Alva led to a 70- yard touchdown run from Hamberlin. Alva was quick to answer with another touchdown pass, but they still were behind Thomas 13-12 at the end of the first quarter.
Ward would find Hamberlin in the end zone yet again giving Thomas a 19-12 lead against the Goldbugs. A pass interception from Jace Miller gave the Terriers the ball back and eventually led to touchdown pass to Noah Rainwater with 4:42 remaining in the second quarter. Rainwater also would force a pick-6 for the Terriers defense to give a 33-12 advantage at halftime.
A 65-yard run from Hamberlin and a blocked scored kick in the second half gave Thomas the 47-26 victory against Alva.
“2020 has been 2020, it threw us a curveball last week but our kids adjusted really well. We had to execute and learn some things this last week. We made some first game mistakes for sure. We can’t tell everyone in our community how thankful we are, it’s because of them that this new facility could happen,” coach Bob Ward said.
Ward said he’d like to see the team improve some.
“We need to watch some film and see what mistakes we made. But overall I’m satisfied with how well we excited everything on offense.”
Hamberlin said he and his teammates were just happy be on the field.
“It feels good to win. It feels good to play football. It just feels good to be back out here. Especially with the uncertainty of this season amidst COVID-19. The new turf is really just the cherry on top,” he said.