SANFORD — Mike Fallon, Sanford’s estimable veteran football coach, had it right when talking about ways to topple undefeated Thornton Academy.
“You have to play perfect,” he said. “We just were a bunch of plays short of perfect.”
Thornton made use of every gift the Redskins gave them, and then some, to take away a hefty 41-6 triumph at Cobb Stadium, Friday.
“I think we’re a more physical defense than last year,” said junior defensive back John Remmes. “We really like to hit. We played some tough ‘D’ and gave the offense good field position.”
Thornton (4-0) exploited a short field advantage by rolling up a 28-0 halftime lead.
Two of those first half scoring drives started just beyond midfield.
Another got going at the Sanford 41.
The first, and perhaps most damaging, came after a long Andrew Libby punt return gave Thornton the ball at the Redskins 19.
It came after a 66 yard run by Sanford’s Alex Shain to the Thornton 1 on the first play of the game was wiped out by a holding penalty.
“If we punch that in,” said Fallon, “all of a sudden we’re up by (a touchdown), and the energy stays.”
Instead, it was Adam Lamontagne’s 6 yard run that put Thornton up 6-0.
The Trojans scored again with 2:38 left in the first quarter on a 3 yard burst up the middle by Dimitri Skinsacos.
It was set up by quarterback Josh Woodward’s 52 yard scamper down the left stripe that put the ball on the 5.
“The line opened up (between) the guard and tackle,” said Woodward, “and I went right through it. I took it to the outside and went down the sideline. I was running as fast as I could.”
Early in the second quarter, Woodward engineered Thornton’s third scoring drive, mixing in key strikes to Corbett Smith (10 yards), James Ek (13 yards) and finally a 20 yarder to Skinsacos that made it 20-0.
“He (Woodward) threw the ball very well,” said Thornton coach Kevin Kezal, “reading it (the Sanford defense) well. And running the ball well. He was doing a great job.”
Woodward tacked on a 57 yard scoring sprint down the right side line early in the third quarter.
“It was the same play,” said Woodward, “just that it came (the other way). It opened right up.”
Smith capped Thornton’s scoring with a 22 yard gallop that came with 3:05 left in the quarter.
The starters were long gone when Sanford hit the scoreboard via sophomore Jacob Dexter’s 13 yard run with 41 seconds remaining in the game.
Despite the lopsided margin, Kezal said that the Redskins did show a few offensive wrinkles that caught his attention.
“They ran a little more outside,” he said. “They tried to attack the edge. They showed a little more shotgun than they did earlier in the year.
“They had a game plan that tried to take advantage of what they could do.”
Sanford’s upset hopes were hampered when they lost starting quarterback Jon Schroeder in a the first half to a suspected rib injury.
— Contact Dan Hickling at dhickling@journaltribune.com.
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