Phillips offense too much for Tharptown
By Staff
Scot Beard
BEAR CREEK – The Clint Nunley era at Tharptown got off to a rough start Thursday as the Wildcats fell to Phillips 62-16 in the season opener. It was the first of five region games for Tharptown.
The Wildcat defense struggled early and Phillips took advantage by gaining a 22-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Tharptown's offense found its rhythm shortly before the end of the first quarter, moving from its own 34-yard line to the Bears' 5-yard line. The quarter expired before Tharptown (0-1, 0-1) could score and lightning strikes in the area delayed the start of the second quarter for almost an hour.
When the teams returned to the field, Tharptown was unable to score and turned over the ball on downs at the Phillips 2-yard line.
"You don't ever want to take a break when you are doing something good," Nunley said. "It hurts your focus."
The Bears (1-0, 1-0) completed a 98-yard scoring drive to push its advantage to 30-0. Phillips added two touchdowns in the final 35 seconds of the half to take a 44-0 lead into the locker room.
Tharptown got the ball to open the second half, but a bad snap on fourth-and-17 from the Wildcats 30-yard line allowed the Phillips offense to set up shop five yards from the goal line. The Bears scored three plays later.
The Wildcats wasted little time retaliating, as Brandon Cothrum hit Manny Ricardo for a 62-yard touchdown pass on Tharptown's next offensive play. Cothrum scored on the two-point conversion to cut Phillips' lead to 50-8.
The Bears answered with a six-play drive capped off by a six-yard run. The two-point conversion failed.
Tharptown got the ball back and drove 68 yards in nine plays for another touchdown. This time it was Trevor Hallmark who scored for the Wildcats on a 2-yard run. He also scored on the two-point conversion to cut the deficit to 56-16.
Phillips added a touchdown with 6:37 remaining in the game for the final score of the night.
Cothrum finished the night completing 11-of-21 passes for 176 yards. He threw one touchdown and three interceptions.
Ricardo led the Tharptown receivers with 65 yards on two catches while Hallmark rushed 13 times for 56 yards.
The Wildcats will host Vina next Friday in another region game.
