Boone scored three touchdowns on their first eight offensive plays from scrimmage in cruising to a 49-0 district win over Tohopekaliga on Thursday night.
The game was never in doubt as the Braves tacked on two more scores in the first quarter – building a 35-0 lead with 1:45 remaining. At that time, both head coaches agreed to institute running clock for the remainder of the game.
With the win, Boone went to 5-2 on the season and remained perfect in Class 8A, District 5 play with a 3-0 mark. The Tigers fell to 2-6 overall and 1-2 in the district. It was the fifth time the Tigers have been shutout this season.
“Not really a lot to say about this one, they were bigger, physical and more experienced than we were,” Tohopekaliga head coach Jeff Higgins said. “We understood going in to this season it was going to be a learning year and that’s where we still are.”
The Tigers could not generate any offense in the first half, gaining just 19 net yards on 18 plays. Despite the struggles, Toho had a chance to move the ball, but quarterback Kam Davis-Roberts overthrew a wide open receiver on a play which would have gone for a touchdown on their second possession and was victimized by four first half drops when he did put it on target.
Meanwhile, Boone had little trouble scoring at will in the first half. After Jacob Mitchell returned the opening kickoff 35 yards to past midfield, De’Marcus Mathis carried three straight times covering all 42 yards on the drive as Boone took a 7-0 lead.
On the Braves next possession, quarterback Casey St. John threw a wide receiver screen to Aiden Mizell, who reversed his field and ran 41 yards for a touchdown for a 14-0 lead. After a quick three-and-out, St. John fired a 29-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Coleman to up the lead to 21-0. On Toho’s next possession, the Braves blocked a punt and Donnie Elkins recovered it in the end zone to make it 28-0 at the 3:44 mark of the first quarter.
After another quick Toho possession, the Braves took over on their own 42. Mathis would rip off back-to-back runs of 17 and 40 yards to set up a 2-yard scoring pass from St. John to Mizell, which resulted in the decision to go to a running clock.
A bad snap on a punt set Boone up on the Toho 20 in the second quarter and Jordan Knight scored on a short touchdown run to make it 42-0 at the half.
The Toho offense did show some signs of life in the second half on their two possessions, picking up five first downs and 54 yards of total offense. But a big quarterback sack and several dropped passes killed both of those drives. “We’ve had some problems with dropped balls all season,” Higgins said. “But again, we’re going to keep running our offense and eventually we’ll start gaining some confidence and make those plays.”
Tohopekaliga returns to action Oct. 22 with a game against Freedom (4-3). The Patriots are led offensively by a couple of transfers from Osceola High School in quarterback Blake Birchler (57.1 pct., 1045 passing yards and 16 total touchdowns) and running back Roshaun Dudley (737 rushing yards, 5 touchdowns).
