Tahlequah Daily Press

Sports

Related Photos

  • Photo by Jeremy Short

    THS Jeremy Dry

Discussion

Add a comment on this story
November 7, 2009

Cardinals use big second quarter to beat THS

By JEREMY SHORT

TAHLEQUAH DAILY PRESS — For the second straight week, Tahlequah played a good first quarter against one of the best teams in the state.

Unfortunately, No.5 East Central used a second quarter scoring outburst, much like Ada a week ago, to top the Tigers 46-6 in the season finale at Doc Wadley Stadium on Friday.

“I thought we played pretty well defensively at times,” said Tigers coach Tuffy Thornton. “Offensively, we moved the ball, but had four turnovers again.”

The teams played even for the first six minutes until the Cardinals got on the board with a Dillon Wallace 43-yard touchdown pass. Kicker Antonio Escobedo missed the extra point to make it 6-0 with 5:25 left in the opening quarter.

In the second quarter, the game got away from Tahlequah (2-8, 1-6 5A-4) as the Cardinals outscored them 27-0.

Wallace got the scoring started with 11:14 left in the half when he tossed his second touchdown pass, this time from 31 yards out. Escobedo added the extra point to put East Central in front 13-0.

On the Tigers next drive, things got worse when sophomore Zack Thornton had his pass intercepted by East Central’s Keith Ross and returned 40 yards for a touchdown. The two-point conversion failed to make it 19-0 with 9:37 left in the first half.

After another turnover halted the next Tahlequah drive, the Cardinals capitalized again with another score. This time is was a 69-yard pass from Wallace to Ross at the 7:42 mark. The extra point was converted to push the East Central lead to 26-0.

The final second quarter touchdown came with 38.9 seconds left when Wallace tossed his fourth touchdown pass from 29 yards away. Escobedo made the extra point to make the halftime deficit 33 points.

Coming out of halftime, the Tigers put together a solid scoring drive that was capped by a Thornton 1-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Colin Downs with 2:50 left in the quarter.

“I thought our drive to open the second half was spectacular,” said Thornton.

East Central (9-1, 7-0 5A-4) added two more touchdowns to push the final margin to 46-6. The first of those came with 2:22 left in the third quarter on a Chakeal Armstrong 28-yard run.

Tahlequah junior Taylor Harris led the team with 59 yards on 14 carries. Downs added 19 yards on the ground.

Thornton finished 12-of-24 passing with 71 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions. He added 10 yards on the ground.

Senior Jackson Smith led the Tigers in receiving in his final game with two catches for 38 yards. Fellow senior Gunner Luna added two catches for 21 yards.

With the loss, Tahlequah finished the season seventh in District 5A-4 ahead of Tulsa Edison.

East Central clinched the district championship with last week’s win over McAlester and will be the district’s No.1 seed when the postseason begins next week.

Text Only
Sports
Poll

What do you plan to do over the Memorial Day weekend?

Go to Lake Tenkiller or Lake Fort Gibson.
Go to the Illinois River.
Attend ceremonies to honor veterans.
Spend time at home with family and/or friends.
Go out of town with family and/or friends.
A combination of the above.
None of the above.
     View Results
Press Sports Twitter Updates
Follow us on twitter
Follow me on Twitter
AP Video
Beryl Makes Landfall on Florida Coast Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD Raw Video: Heckler Bursts in on Blair Testimony Japan Farmers Plant, Seek Radiation-free Rice UN Blames Syrian Forces for Shelling Houla Raw Video: Gay Protest Blocked in Moscow Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium 50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
Stocks
Bedlam