Hawks pick up another win for homecoming

Another week, another blowout victory for the Thompson Falls football team. Head coach Jared Koskela's team defeated Arlee 61-24 in front of their home fans in what was Thompson Falls' homecoming game. In a game that wasn't as close as the score would indicate, coach Koskela "couldn't have been happier" with the way his starters opened up the game.

The Blue Hawks dominated the opening quarter through contributions from junior quarterback Elijah Ratliff and senior running back Nathan Schraeder. Schraeder, who was voted homecoming king at half time, opened up the scoring for Thompson Falls with an electrifying 65-yard touchdown run. The senior was able to haul in two additional first quarter touchdowns on passes of eight and ten yards from Ratliff. In addition to his two first quarter passing touchdowns, Ratliff ran in another score from 17 yards out. Coach Koskela was especially pleased with Ratliff's passing as the junior went 7/8 for 81 yards and three touchdowns. Developing his quarterback's pocket passing abilities has been a top priority for Koskela as the Blue Hawks head towards the postseason. Koskela pointed out post game that Ratliff would have had a perfect passer rating if it weren't for a dropped pass.

Heading into the second quarter leading 27-8 the Blue Hawks turned to star running back Trae Thilmony and the senior delivered with touchdown runs of 15 and 50 yards. Ratliff then added his third touchdown pass of the night on a perfectly thrown 25 yard pass to junior wide receiver Jesse Claridge. On the play, Ratliff put the ball in a perfect place where only his 6'4 wideout could make the catch. Thompson Falls headed into half time ahead 48-12 as the homecoming court members prepared to be announced.

In the second half coach Koskela called upon his reserves to earn some valuable experience as the Blue Hawks wound down the clock. Freshman Bryson Lecoure tacked on two more rushing touchdowns of two and 35 yards to round out the scoring for Thompson Falls as they ran their record to a perfect 7-0.

As the Blue Hawks gear up for a playoff run in the next two weeks they'll look to sharpen some things up in their heavily favored matchups against Plains and Troy. While coach Koskela is looking to get his young players experience in the last two weeks, he will have an eye on playoff preparation. Koskela plans to rely on relationships he's built across the state in recent years to scout potential playoff opponents. "We will be looking to go at it hard in practice, do some scrimmaging. It's been nice the last couple of years making the playoffs as I've been able to make some connections on the east side of the state. I've got everyone's film and they've got ours."

In a light-hearted moment after the game, coach Koskela was asked to address assistant volleyball coach Chrisi Robinson's comments from earlier in the week where she stated the Lady Hawks volleyball may be superior to the football team this season and went on to clarify "I'll say this much, I know we could beat them in volleyball." Koskela laughed knowingly and said his team would be up to the challenge, "we've been hearing that kind of talk (from the volleyball program) for a couple years now. Things like, "if volleyball was easy they'd call it football" and things like that."

Koskela went on to say he thinks it would be fun for the teams to switch practices to see which sport is really tougher. "Time to walk the walk instead of talking the talk." Coach Koskela chuckled.

Volleyball vs football aside, it's a great day to be a Blue Hawk as both teams sit atop their conferences and look poised for deep postseason runs. The Blue Hawks will head to Plains Friday night. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.