SACO — It wasn’t easy, but a win is a win.

Truer words were never spoken in the Thornton Academy football team’s 7-0 win over Windham on Saturday.

The win jumps Thornton’s record to 2-1 on the season. It was a good bounce back for the Trojans, who lost a heartbreaker to South Portland in a 20-16 contest the week before.

“I’m happy with the effort,” Thornton head coach Kevin Kezal said. “It wasn’t pretty, but we played hard for 48 minutes. That was the stress this week, go out and play hard. If we play hard, we would have a good opportunity to win.”

Sparked by the play of defensive end Dakota Tarbox, who missed the Trojans’ contest against South Portland the week before with a concussion, Thornton scored a touchdown in the first quarter, then hung on for dear life.

“It was huge,” Kezal said of the play of his defensive end. “He made some huge plays for us, he’s a really good player.’

Tarbox, a junior, played a vital role on defense, smacking down three passes, including the game-clinching play. On fourth and four, with the ball on the Trojan 14-yard line, O’Brien dashed to his right to make a pass. Tarbox, coming off the edge, followed him, and as O’Brien fired his pass, Tarbox batted the ball back into his face. O’Brien caught the ball and attempted to make another pass, which was caught by tight end Jeremy Peavey at the 3-yard line. After much discussion, the play was not allowed, as per rule, a quarterback cannot make two passes on the same play. The play was ruled an illegal forward pass, and Thornton took over the ball, running out the clock and taking the win.

“I knew when it was batted down (that it couldn’t be thrown again),” Tarbox said. “I had no idea he would throw it, but when it was a reception, I knew that he couldn’t throw it twice. We pretty much knew, but we were glad the refs got it right.”

Tarbox also hauled in the first interception of the game off O’Brien in the first quarter.

“It felt great coming back this week,” Tarbox said. “I wanted to have a great game, not being able to play last week. I was able to get it done for the team, and help out.”

The lone touchdown for the Trojans came in the first quarter, when Thornton capped a four-play, 62-yard drive with running back John Remmes plunging for a one-yard touchdown score. An extra point by Brandon Briggs sealed the 7-0 score.

The score was set up by a 41-yard run from Dylan Morton, and a 21-yard strike from quarterback Eric Christensen to Tarbox before Remmes pummeled into the end zone.

From there, it was simply a matter of who could make the least mistakes. Both passing attacks suffered, as Windham quarterback TD O’Brien and Christensen each threw two interceptions. Windham also suffered from a bad case of the drops amongst its receivers, hurting any chances of scoring points after taking the ball over from the Trojans.

Offensively, both offenses put together similar performances, as Thornton outgained Windham 234-193 in total offensive yards. Nick Kenney led the Trojans in rushing on the day, gaining 53 yards on 17 carries.

The loss continues a surprising season for Windham, who won the state championship just two years ago. The Eagles are now 0-3 on the season.

Windham head coach Matt Perkins said the Eagles haves suffered from some bad luck so far this season.

“A lot of the balls that bounce aren’t bouncing our way,” Perkins said.

The Trojans hit the road next week to North Berwick to take on Noble, who are coming off a 35-34 overtime loss TO Massabesic on Friday night.

— Contact Dave Dyer at 282-1535 ext. 318 or follow on Twitter @Dave_Dyer.