Thomson High School routed Harlem High School 53-7 on Friday, Oct. 22. at Harlem’s home stadium.
Harlem started out with the ball on offense but was forced to punt early in the first quarter.
Thomson drove down field all the way to Harlem’s 3-yard line with under four minutes to go in the first quarter. Wide receiver Taymarion Martin lined up at quarterback for the short draw play, but was stuffed, giving the Harlem offense back the ball.
With under three minutes to go in the first, Harlem fumbled at their own 45-yard line, giving Thomson the ball in scoring territory. With 31 seconds left in the first, Martin threw a 35-yard touchdown to wide receiver Ashton Perry. Kicker Connor Askew added the extra point to make the score 7-0.
On the first play of the second quarter for Harlem, Thomson’s defense sacked quarterback Ryan Newman for two-point safety, putting them ahead 9-0.
Thomson got the ball right back after the safety and Martin threw his second touchdown of the game to wide receiver Jalik Johnson for a 37-yard score. Askew made the extra point to put Thomson ahead 16-0 with 11:37 remaining in the second quarter.
Martin added his third passing touchdown of the game with a 28-yard touchdown to Perry, putting them ahead 23-0.
Second quarter struggles would continue for Harlem after Newman threw an interception to defensive back Dez Boyd for a 39-yard touchdown. Askew added his fourth extra point of the game to make the score 30-0.
Martin lined up at receiver on Thomson’s next drive and caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Noah Story, getting in the end zone for the fourth time on the night.
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Thomson led at the end of half 37-0, which led the referees decide to let the clock run the second half.
In the second half, Thomson let some of the young guys get some of the work due to the lopsided game. Sophomore running back Jordan Lane ran in a 5-yard touchdown and freshman Tre Jeffery also ran in for a 7-yard score.
Harlem scored on their final drive with pass by quarterback Ethan Evangelista to wide receiver (and brother) Elijah Evangelista to make the game end with a final score of 53-7.
Thomson led the game with 342 total yards and held Harlem to 129. The Thomson Bulldogs finished with 288 yards on the ground. Lane led Thomson with 104 rushing yards on 8 attempts.
The next game for Harlem (5-3) will be on the road against Hephzibah (5-3) on Friday, Oct. 29. Thomson (8-0) will face Hephzibah the following week on Nov. 5 at Brickyard Stadium.
Chris Rickerson is a Sports Contributor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at CRICKERSON@augusta.edu.
