SACO — Playing home games on Friday night seems to agree with the Thornton Academy football team.

Just ask Noble.

Eschewing their traditional Saturday afternoon kickoff time to play under the Friday night lights for only the second time in the last 76 years, the Golden Trojans dominated the Knights from the get go, needing just nine offensive snaps to take a 27-0 lead after the first quarter and extending that advantage to 53-0 at halftime as Thornton cruised to a 73-0 victory in a Western Class A game before a crowd of 2,130 at Hill Stadium.

Thornton, which was just three points off the school record for points in game set in a 76-0 win over Westbrook in 1992, improved to 2-0 on the season, while Noble dropped to 0-2.

“Playing at night, it was a great atmosphere and our kids came out and they played hard,” Thornton head coach Kevin Kezal said. “We were able to spread the ball around on offense and the kids made plays, and defensively I thought we played physical football.”

The first half-stats were, in short, one-sided: The Golden Trojans gained 395 yards of total offense in 27 plays despite possessing the ball for only seven and a half minute of time; the Knights also ran 27 offensive plays in the opening half but gained just four total yards, and no first downs, in its nine possessions against a stout Thornton defense.

After the first of many Noble three-and-outs on its opening drive, Thornton needed just four plays to drive 57 yards for the maiden score, with a 28-yard catch and run by Kevin Barrett setting up a Justin Boure 10-yard touchdown run, with Cameron Cadorette adding the first of his seven extra points to make it 7-0.

T.A. needed even less time and half as many plays to double its advantage. After a quarterback draw by Austin McCrum gained seven yards, he found Corey Hart with a perfectly placed ball on a fade route down the right sideline for a 63-yard TD pass.

“It was just a one-on-one matchup,” McCrum said. “The (defensive back) was playing pretty close on that, so I just aired it out because Corey can go up and get the ball.”

McCrum did more damage through the air on the Trojans’ next drive, hitting Barrett on a slant route for a 33-yard touchdown. The T.A. offense then wasn’t needed for the Trojans to score again as Ben Lambert returned Isaac Houston’s punt 58 yards up the left sideline for a touchdown.

“Ben’s a phenomenal athlete and you saw it there,” Kezal said. “He did a great job for us, especially on those returns. He’s playing a lot of football for us and he’s doing a nice job.”

In total, Thornton took just two minutes and 39 seconds of game time to gain 196 yards of offense ”“ 58 more including the return ”“ and take a 27-0 lead with 1:44 still to play in the first quarter.

The dominance would continue into the second. Boure ran for his second touchdown from nine yards out to up the lead to 34-0, and McCrum threw his third touchdown of the night on Thornton’s next possession as he found a diving Lambert for a 31-yard score.

Owen Elliot got into end zone act T.A.’s next series, running in from nine yards out for a touchdown. Demel Ruff then completed the first-half scoring by bowling in from 1-yard out with 46 seconds remaining in the second quarter to make it 53-0 at the break, the second-straight week Thornton’s defense has pitched a first-half shutout.

“Our defense has had a great energy,” McCrum said. “They’re just getting after it. It’s a big change form last year; we want to be physical and that’s the game we need to play.”

If possible, things went from bad to worse for the Knights just 14 seconds into the second half as C.J. Michaud returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown.

The Thornton first-team offense then completed its tremendous night in impressive fashion on its next series by gaining the full 99 yards in seven plays, with Boure completing his personal touchdown hat trick with a 30-yard run to make the score 67-0 midway through the third quarter.

Derek Boissonnault completed the scoring with a 4-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.

McCrum finished with 180 yards and three touchdowns on 6 of 7 passing, while Boure needed just 10 carries to gain 150 yards on the ground, with Ruff adding 77 yards on seven carries.

“Justin and Demel were great,” Kezal said. “They complement each other well and were able to keep each other fresh.”

Still, despite the lopsided win, Kezal emphasized the “never satisfied” approach that he said has defined his team over the last few years, something his quarterback echoed postgame.

“When you’re looking at the big picture, it’s easy to go back and look at film and see the little things we have to do better against stronger opponents,” McCrum said. “We’ve just got to come out and get better every week, it really doesn’t matter the opponent.”

—Staff Writer Cameron Dunbar can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or cdunbar@journaltribune.com.