THRALL — Thrall football coach Aaron Vanecek had a “trick” up his sleeve Friday night.
Instead of lining up in the usual four-wide receiver spread look, the Tigers packed it in and operated out of the runoriented Wing-T. The switch paid off.
Thrall (2-4) ran for more than 200 yards and pounded its way to a 28-6 victory Friday night against Hempstead at Tiger Stadium in Thrall on Homecoming Night. As a team, the Tigers ran for 250 yards on 46 carries.
“We’ve been working on it since the first day of practice,” Vanecek said. “We’ve been mixing it (into the game plan) and we felt like we needed to do that (Friday). We committed to it and the kids bought in. It ended up being a success.”
Based on what Vanecek and his coaching staff saw on film from Hempstead (2-4), he felt like Thrall would have more success by playing a ball-control type of offense.
“Hempstead likes to walk up seven or eight guys and bring pressure the entire game,” Vanecek said. “They have athletes on the perimeter who can make plays on the ball. We wanted to make sure we controlled the pace of this football game.”
One player who was happy with the Tigers running the Wing-T Friday night was senior offensive lineman Carson Suchomel. He thinks the scheme fits his team like a glove.
“I believe the Wing-T fits our personality,” Suchomel said. “We have a good, hard-nosed running back who runs the ball downfield pretty hard. We have a good offensive line. I think the Wing-T is perfect for us. There’s more contact in the Wing-T.”
At halftime, Suchomel was crowned Homecoming King, while classmate Kinley Hoffman was crowned Queen. It was a double dose of victory for him.
“It feels great to be the king,” Suchomel said. “It also feels great to win the football game.”
The biggest beneficiary of the offensive scheme change was running back CJ Kelm. He ran 27 times for 162 yards and three touchdowns.
“I was excited when I found out we were running the Wing-T (Friday),” Kelm said. “We have the size up front to run it. We have to force the ball where we want it and just play football. We’re going to run it until we can’t get yards.”
Kelm carried the football 10 times for 49 yards and a drive-capping threeyard touchdown run to put Thrall up for good, 7-0, with 4:53 remaining in the first quarter. The game’s opening drive was 14 plays for 64 yards and took more than seven minutes off of the game clock.
The next three drives ended in punts – two for the Bobcats, one for the Tigers – before Thrall struck again. Another allrunning plays drive ended with a seven-yard touchdown run for Kelm as the Tigers increased their lead to 14-0 at the 3:04 mark of the second quarter.
After forcing a threeand- out, Thrall struck again right before halftime. Ty Matthews hit Logan Heselmeyer for a 19-yard touchdown pass with 26 seconds remaining before halftime.
Kelm capped the scoring for the Tigers with a one-yard touchdown run with 2:53 remaining in the third quarter. Hempstead scored a touchdown with 29 seconds remaining in the contest to get on the scoreboard.
Not to be outdone, the Thrall defense also had a solid outing. The Tigers limited the Bobcats to less than 200 yards of total offense, including 45 in the first half.
Thrall opens District 13-3A-Division II play next week at Livingston. Vanecek believes this win will help his team gain confidence going into district play.
“We’re growing as a football team,” Vanecek said. “This is a great group of kids. We need to stack good games like this.”
