Published: September 10, 2008 10:10 am         

Tigers dominate in big road win at Thomastown

The visiting Ethel Tigers put together a dominating second half to roll to a 37-0 win over Thomastown in Region 3-1A football action on Friday night.

“The first half I thought we played better than the week before, but in the second half we played really well offensively and defensively,” said second-year Ethel head football coach Paul Dees.

The Tigers held an 8-0 lead at the half thanks to a 4-yard scoring run by Alexander Erving and the two-point conversion run by Matt Morgan.

But Ethel scored two touchdowns in each of the last two quarters to put the game away.

Morgan intercepted a pass on Thomastown’s first drive of the second half to set up his own 5-yard scoring run. Although the two-point conversion failed, the Tigers were up 14-0.

Dees admitted he was still a little uncomfortable at the half with just a one-touchdown lead.

“You are always concerned when you are up 8-0 at the half and you had opportunities in the first half that you didn’t take advantage off,” he said.

But in the second half the EHS defense picked off three Thomastown passes to keep the offense in good position.

Later in the third quarter Troymum Hawthorne, who finished the night with 120 rushing yards on 10 carries, broke lose for an 80-yard touchdown run. Hunter Dempsey passed to Chance Maddox for the two-point conversion to put the winners up 22-0 after three quarters of play.

Ethel followed that up with a 1-yard touchdown run by Dempsey early in the first quarter. Irving’s two-point conversion was good to make it 30-0.

The last Tiger touchdown came on a 30-yard interception return by Dylan Simmons.

Keith Collins led EHS with eight tackles, while Morgan had seven and Erving four. Nick Winters also picked off a pass for the winners.

Morgan rushed for 73 yards on 15 attempts, while Erving had eight carries for 53 yards. Dempsey hit on 3-of-5 passes for 32 yards, while the Tigers picked up 14 first downs on the night.

The Tigers, now 1-1, have Friday night off, before hosting French Camp on Sept. 19.

“During this week off we are just going to work on ourselves,” Dees said. “We know what the areas we need to improve on and that will be our focus.”