Tharptown picks up first victory of season

By Bart Moss for the FCT

After a rough start against two 2A county opponents – Phil Campbell and Red Bay – the Tharptown Wildcats opened up region play with a big road win over the Shoals Christian Flame 38-28 Friday night. The Wildcats got two touchdowns each from Payton Price and K.J. Hamilton in the win.

“I’m really proud of our whole offensive group,” said Tharptown coach Kevin Lacey. “We knew we would have to score with them, and we never got down when they would score.

“Our defensive coaches had a really good game plan for their running game, and our guys did a nice job of cutting down their explosive plays.”

The Wildcats got on the board first early in the game on a 35-yard field goal by Luis Macias to give Tharptown a 3-0 lead. Tharptown scored again late in the first quarter on a 12-yard run by Price to give the Wildcats a 9-0 lead. They would carry that lead into the locker room at halftime.

Shoals Christian got on the board early in the third quarter, but Tharptown responded with a touchdown of their own on a run by Hamilton. Price ran for the two-point conversion to make the score 17-8 with 2:26 to go in the third quarter.

Then things began to get wild.

Shoals Christian scored with 1:37 to go in the third quarter to cut the Wildcats’ lead to one 17-16.

Tharptown answered on their next drive with another score from Hamilton. Macias’ PAT gave the Wildcats a 24-16 lead.

Shoals Christian answered with another touchdown to make the score 24-22.

Tharptown scored again with 4:29 to go in the game to make the score 31-22.

The Flame would not be doused, however, as they scored again to make the score 31-28 with 1:49 to go in the game.

Shoals Christian tried an onside kick, but Tharptown recovered. The Wildcats put the game away with a touchdown run by Price. Macias’ PAT made the score 38-28.

The Wildcats improve to 1-3 overall and, most importantly, 1-0 in their region. Tharptown will host Hackleburg Friday night in another region matchup.