Hawks step up for rivalry win

The Thompson Falls Blue Hawks continued their special season Saturday in Plains with a 61-6 victory against coach Ryan Hart’s Horsemen. Thompson Falls jumped out to a 33-0 lead in the first quarter courtesy of their defense and special teams units. The Blue Hawk defense contributed two interceptions returned for touchdowns by juniors Joshua Wilhite (63 yards) and Elijah Ratliff (21 yards), while junior Breck Ferris brought a punt back for a 40-yard touchdown. The vaunted Thompson Falls rushing attack also chipped in a couple of touchdowns in the first courtesy of Ratliff (15 yards) and senior Ryan Bucher (31 yards.)

With Thompson Falls head coach Jared Koskela’s objectives for his starters completed, the Blue Hawks called on their backups, led by quarterbacks Bryson LeCoure and Braxton Dorscher. LeCoure got the first crack at backup quarterback duties and delivered second quarter touchdown passes to senior Jordan Fisher (33 yards) and Wilhite (38 yards). He was relieved in the third quarter by Dorscher who tacked on a 71-yard rushing score and a 59-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Nick Tessier. Coach Koskela was pleased with both of his backup quarterbacks. “They played well on both sides of the ball. Those are the players you look to next in case a starter goes down.” Koskela continued, “Braxton can pretty much play anywhere. He loves to hit and has really bought into being a pulling offensive lineman (a blocking technique that is a staple in Koskela’s rushing attack) and Bryson can really sling it as a freshman.”

As the final horn sounded with Thompson Falls ahead 61-6, the Blue Hawks will look forward to an intense week of practice followed by their final regular season game against Troy. Coach Koskela has been looking to practices to sharpen his starters in preparation for the playoffs and likes what he’s seen lately. “Our players have playoff experience and know what needs to be brought,” Koskela said about the team’s practice intensity. “The scouts [reserves] have been bringing it and making the starters work.” Koskela went on to say that scouts' knowledge of the Blue Hawk playbook will give the starters a similar challenge to what they’ll face in the playoffs, as their opponents will have watched plenty of his team’s film. “The scouts know our plays just like the playoff teams will. It makes it harder on us which is great.”

As for coach Hart’s Horsemen, they’ll look to earn their first victory of the season this Friday at Mission. A win will be well deserved for an extremely young squad that has gutted through some growing pains this season. One can’t help but look to next year for better results, as every starter should be returning and will have benefitted from a full offseason under coach Hart.