There’s not much that’ll make you feel better when you lose by 64 points. But after suffering their second straight blowout – 84 to 20 at the hands of the Homer Mariners last night (Thursday) – Thunder Mountain High School Head Coach Bill Byouer told his team it’s not the end of the world.
“I’m not dead, and neither are they,” Byouer said. “So they’ll be in here come Monday and we’re going to be fighting hard again and try for next week.”
The Falcons came out strong, forcing a Homer fumble on the first play from scrimmage. Less than two minutes later, Thunder Mountain Quarterback Camden Thomas connected with Sam Jahn on scoring strike from five yards out.
But Homer was simply too quick, too savvy, and too good for the out-manned Falcons. Mariners Running Back Dylan Day had eight touchdowns, including five on the ground, one after a catch, one on a fumble recovery and another on a punt return.
The Falcons’ other touchdowns came on a one-yard quarterback keeper by Thomas with 8:03 left in the first half, and a 57-yard scamper by running back John Jolly to cap the scoring with 2:38 left in the game. Between those two scores Homer pretty much dominated both sides of the ball.
To make matters worse, Byouer says seven of his players had to leave the game due to injury.
“JV stepped in there and still worked hard,” said Byouer. “I mean, I got young, young freshman out there, sophomores, you know, and they’re learning.”
Byouer can only hope another week of practice will help his young players take on their next opponent – Nikiski. The Bulldogs are 2-0 and coming off a 48-0 win over Sitka on Wednesday. They’ll be in Juneau for a showdown at Thunder Mountain next Saturday (8-27).
Meanwhile, The Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears play the North Pole Patriots tomorrow (Saturday) in the first Railbelt Conference game of the season.
The game is played in North Pole. The Patriots had their shake-down game last week against West Anchorage – and lost to the Eagles by a score of 44-28.
The Crimson Bears first game of the season last week was an easy victory over Thunder Mountain.
