THS rallies for 25-20 victory

By Staff
THARPTOWN – The Tharptown football team trailed Waterloo twice in a key Class 1A, Region 8 game Friday and the Wildcats found a way to rally both times to earn their first win of the season.
Nathan Gray scored the winning touchdown on a 1-yard run with 45 seconds remaining in the game to give the Wildcats the 25-20 victory.
The Wildcats also had two players – Trevor Hallmark and Jacob Parker – rush for more than 100 yards.
Tharptown (1-2, 1-2) led 19-14 midway through the final quarter, but the Cougars began a drive and reached the Wildcat 5-yard line.
Gray forced a fumble to end the drive, but the Wildcat offense could not pick up a first down. Waterloo (1-2, 0-2) blocked the punt and scored on a 5-yard run with 5:38 remaining.
Tharptown began an 8-play, 72-yard drive for the winning score. Hallmark's 31-yard run and a 15-yard penalty set up the Wildcats first-and-goal from the Waterloo 10. Gray scored on fourth down.
Waterloo jumped out to a 14-0 lead on passes of 68 and 32 yards.
Parker began the first Tharptown rally with an 8-yard run and Brandon Cothrum added the point after kick to cut the Waterloo lead to 14-7.
The Wildcats opened the second half with a 63-yard drive ending in a 1-yard scoring run by Hallmark. He added another 1-yard touchdown run with 36 seconds remaining in the third quarter to give Tharptown its first lead of the game 19-14.
Parker finished the night with 110 yards on 26 carries. Hallmark had 101 yards on 23 carries.
With the win, Tharptown keeps its playoff hopes alive. The Wildcats will host Phillips Friday in a non-region game that begins at 7 p.m.