PORTLAND — Thornton Academy put up plenty of points during Saturday afternoon’s season opener, but it would be the Golden Trojans’ defense that stole the show at Fitzpatrick Stadium.
The TA defense held Deering to just six total yards and the only first downs they allowed were on penalties as they helped the Trojans cruise to a 70-0 win over the Rams.
“Our D-line was just (dominating) the line all game long. We had guys running to the ball. All 11 guys had that mentality to make a tackle every, single play so it was great,” said TA senior defensive back Athan Gikas.
Gikas would turn some of that stellar defense into points early on for the Trojans.
TA forced a three-and-out and Deering’s punt would be collected by Gikas. The senior waited for his blockers to set up and then raced 32 yards around a wall of Trojans and to the house. Brady Forbes would make the first of his eight extra points to make it 7-0.

“The kids did a great job setting the wall. It’s something that we work a lot on special teams,” said Thornton head coach Kevin Kezal. “We certainly have playmakers back deep and we have kids up front that take pride in that stuff. It was a great way to get us going.”
“I saw the whole right side open up. Anthony Bracamonte did a great job lead blocking. We’ve been working that all week, so I was ready for it,” added Gikas.
It would be another Gikas putting points on the board just three minutes later. Sophomore Costa Gikas capped off a five-play, 56-yard drive with a TD run from five yards out to make it 14-0.
TA’s defense set up the Trojans’ next score as Dan Tarbox picked off a Deering pass and returned it 27 yards to the 1. Grant Dow finished things off with a 1-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 21-0 with five minutes left in the first.
Athan Gikas would secure an interception with 57 seconds left in the first quarter and Julien Bailey Cottle scored from 13 yards out on the first play of the second quarter to give TA a 28-0 advantage.
The Trojans would add three more scores before the first half was over. Ean Patry found the end zone from three yards out with nine minutes left. Bailey Cottle scored his second TD with another 13-yard scoring scamper at the 6:10 mark and Athan Gikas closed out the first-half scoring with a 39-yard TD run with 2:10 remaining.
Isaac Ofielu joined the TA touchdown parade early in the third quarter with an 8-yard scoring run to make it 55-0.
TA would start bringing the reserves midway through the third — but that certainly didn’t stop the Trojans from lighting up the scoreboard.
Michael Jordan broke free for a 40-yard TD run to make it 62-0, which would be the score at the end of the third. Quinn McCollum put the exclamation point on the victory with a touchdown run and a two-point conversion midway through the fourth.
“Our kids played hard and played with great energy,” said Kezal, who had a feeling his defense would have a big game. “We thought early on that our defense would probably be ahead of our offense and they did a great job.”
TA defensive end Thomas Palmer loved seeing both the offense and defense clicking during the season opener.
“It’s a great feeling to know that both sides of the ball we are just pushing and pushing. It gives me a lot of hope for playoff season,” said Palmer, who is a senior.
Saturday’s game was moved to Fitzpatrick Stadium, which will be the site of the Class A state final, because of Deering’s new turf not being ready. The Trojans would certainly love to make a return trip to Fitzpatrick later this season.
“I think we had more fans than them, so it was like a home game for us … our goal is to be back here in November. (We have to) keep improving and hopefully we’ll be back,” said Athan Gikas.
“It gives me a goal to reach and sort of sets an objective in my mind that I want to be back here when November comes around,” added Palmer.
Thornton Academy will host Lewiston on Friday night for the Trojans’ annual “blackout game” at Hill Stadium.
— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at pmcdonald@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 322. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.