Tharptown hosts Shoals Christian: (W) 41-30
By Bart Moss / For the FCT
Carson Petree rushed for 145 yards on 10 carries, accounted for four touchdowns and intercepted a pass as the Tharptown Wildcats rolled past the Shoals Christian Flame 41-30 in their season opener Friday night.
Petree ran for two touchdowns, passed for a touchdown and caught a touchdown pass, capping off a big night for the Wildcat senior.
“I am really happy for our guys,” said Tharptown coach Kevin Lacey. “They have been so positive and worked so hard and really deserved it. We have really good leadership with our older guys and a good core group of young guys that played really well.
“We did a really good job up front offensively, and Luis (Macias](and Carson (Petree) ran the ball really well,” Lacey added. “They ran well in open space and broke a lot of tackles to get extra yards. I just can’t say enough about how determined they were with the ball.”
Tharptown got on the board first with a nine-play drive that ended with a five-yard touchdown pass by Petree. Macias added the extra point to put the Wildcats on top 7-0.
Shoals Christian answered with its own scoring drive and two-point conversion to take an 8-7 lead.
Tharptown reclaimed the lead late in the first quarter when Petree hit Briley Kerby in the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown pass to give the Wildcats a 13-8 lead, and the Wildcats went on to score 20 unanswered points.
Luis Macias opened the second quarter by scampering for a 22-yard touchdown run and adding the PAT to give Tharptown a 20-8 lead. Kerby fired a 60-strike over the middle to Macias to increase Tharptown’s lead to 27-8 and threw another touchdown pass in third quarter – this time to Petree, to give the Wildcats a 34-16 lead.
“I can’t say enough about Briley Kerby,” said Lacey. “He was as composed as an eighth-grader can be running the offense and setting in the pocket throwing.”
Petree scored his fourth touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter with a 10-yard run to paydirt. He also nabbed an interception in the game.
“We have to clean up a lot of things, but I’m really proud of our guys,” said Lacey.
Tharptown will have some time to do that cleanup with an open date this week. The Wildcats will play their first 2A, Region 7 game Sept. 7 at Sheffield.
