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Flatonia bullies Thrall 
Thrall High School's Tucker Lovelace unloads a pass during the Tigers' game against the Lago Vista Vikings Sept. 19 in Thrall. Flatonia shut down Thrall's passing attack Friday night.
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By EMILY GROBE Tigers struggle with confidence in 35-21 loss FLATONIA — A 21-point first half was enough for a three touchdown Thrall lead, but two turnovers and an explosive Bulldog team was too much to overcome as the Tigers took a 35-21 loss Friday in their final non district game. “When you play the kind of schedule like we’ve been playing, when you’re playing those teams and they are hammering you, maybe you start not believing you can win,” Thrall coach Gary Schultz said. “I think the belief bug got us tonight.” The Tigers made an unconventional goal line stand when, on the Bulldogs first drive, Thrall recovered a fumble at the 1 yard line. “We had some big stops on defense and we played hard,” Schultz said. “We got big long runs in there, too.” The Tigers moved the ball out from the shadow of the goal post and punted on fourth-and-5 at their own 29. With the Bulldogs offsides on the punt, Thrall was able to regain control and quickly capitalized with a 65-yard touchdown run by Michael Rus for a 7-0 lead. “We’ve been working in practice on how to accomplish those long runs and I think we were successful with that,” Schultz said. Flatonia found the end zone four plays later when Adrian Lighteard made a 36-yard grab for six points. Thrall’s defense executed nearly flawlessly the remainder of the half, holding the Bulldogs scoreless and setting up the Tigers for two more touchdowns. Frankie Valdez recovered a fumble at the Tigers’ 30 yard line, giving the offense a short field and a quick scoring drive. Rus again found the end zone, this time on a 10-yard punch, giving the Tigers a 14-6 lead. The Bulldogs turned the ball over on downs and missed a 30-yard field goal attempt on their next possessions for another Thrall opportunity. The Tigers responded with a 4:29 minute, 80-yard drive that was highlighted by a 23-yard reverse run by Rus and capped off with a 28-yard touchdown run by Hayden Caffey. Thrall saw a wealth of Bulldog talent and a powerful offense regain control of the game. Lighteard exploded for 111 of his 184 rushing yards in the second half. The Bulldogs scored four touchdowns in the second half, two on long offense series and two on defensive execution, and held the Tigers to just 28 yards the second half. Lighteard capped off the Bulldogs first offensive series of the half with an eight-yard score with 3:39 to go in the third, cutting Thrall’s lead to one touchdown, 21-14. Two plays later, Thrall gave up another score when Jordan Williams returned a fumble 34 yards for a score. Then came back-to-back Flatonia touchdowns. Williams, at quarterback, capped off a 10-play drive with a 15-yarder, stretching the advantage to 28-21, and defensive lineman Bryce Mica returned an interception 27 yards for the Bulldogs final score. The Bulldogs put up 372 yards total offense. Williams finished the game 4-8 passing for 113 yards, and one score. The Tigers rushed for 208 yards recovered two fumbles and blocked one Flatonia extra point attempt. “They can grow off of this,” Schultz said of his team. “I think they can take a lot from this ball game and get better going into our first district game. They just have to believe they can.”
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