Defense dominant, Thomason terrific in Christian Heritage road playoff victory – Daily Citizen
#inform-video-player-1 .inform-embed { margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; }
#inform-video-player-2 .inform-embed { margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; }
Christian Heritage School entered the Class A Division II playoffs with a losing record and without a region win.
After a season of tough tests, the Lions put everything together in a road game in the first round of the postseason.
The defense dominated and senior running back Eli Thomason was terrific as the Lions took control after the opening quarter for a 37-6 win against Greene County on Friday.
The defense forced four turnovers and Thomason rushed for two touchdowns in the second and two more in the third as the Lions quickly turned an early deficit into a commanding advantage. Christian Heritage had the 37-6 lead before the midway point of the third and didn’t need to score again.
The Lions, now 5-6, will travel to undefeated Johnson County next Friday to try to continue the improbable playoff journey.
The Lions trailed 6-0 at the end of a first quarter that included some big plays for Greene County (6-5), the second-seeded team from Region 8. The final three frames were a completely different story.
Greene County was the team to take advantage of a turnover in the first quarter.
After Thomason was stopped short on a fourth down at midfield, Greene quarterback Steve Miller hit a strike to Javaris Harris to the 6 before Malik West plunged in from 5.
A potential Christian Heritage kickoff return for a touchdown by Jaylon Gay was called back on a penalty, but that was pretty much the last thing to go wrong for the rest of the night for the Lions.
After a short punt, Carson Russell hit a 41-yard field goal to get the Lions on the board at 6-3 early in the second quarter.
After the first of three fumble recoveries on the night for the Lions, Thomason sprinted from midfield to the 25, then took it the rest of the way on the following play. 10-6 Christian Heritage.
A 39-yard scramble by quarterback Carter Triplett set up Thomason for a 5-yard plunge to put the Lions up 16-6 with 2:10 before the half, and Christian Heritage’s Isaac Watson picked a Miller pass into the end zone just before the break to preserve the 10-point advantage.
With the Lions taking the ball out of the half, Thomason quickly made the hole deeper for Greene. A 60-yard run made the score 23-6.
Thomason racked up 173 yards and four touchdowns on 24 carries in the game.
After another stop, the Lions dealt the final blows. After Thomason scored a 9-yard touchdown, penalties after the play on Greene County pushed Christian Heritage’s kickoff all the way to the Greene County 30.
Without much risk of losing field position, the Lions tried a short kick, and Luke Wagner was able to recover.
Triplett hit Sam Wooten for a 19-yard touchdown pass with 7:12 to go in the quarter for the Lions’ second score in 28 seconds.
The Lions didn’t need to score again, and two more fumble recoveries — one from Wooten and another from Gay — shut down any late opportunities by the home team. The fourth quarter was played with a running clock.
#inform-video-player-3 .inform-embed { margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; }