Thornton topples T.F. South

Thornton held on to topple T.F. South 32-24 in a Class 7A playoff game between the two SICA East opponents Saturday afternoon in Harvey. The Wildcats (8-2) held second half leads of 26-3 and 32-10, but T.F. South (7-3) made it interesting with a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns.

Michael Ustanik scored on a 75-yard run following a lateral and then a 2-yard run by Josh Titus pulled the Rebels within 32-24 with 7:26 left in regulation.

Following a punt, T.F. South got the ball back at the Thornton 43 with 4:05 remaining. But on the first play from scrimmage, Juan Frazer intercepted a pass at his own 16, and the Wildcats were able to run out the clock.

Thorton’s Marcus Franklin returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown to open the scoring in the first quarter.

“The interception was nice because it gave us momentum, and we just do what it takes to win,” Franklin said. “That’s a hard-fighting team (T.F. South). We knew they would come back, but we kept our composure and stayed strong.”

Darrien Jones (6-for-16, 135 yards) threw touchdown passes of 53 yards to Ovie Godfrey and a 36-yard Hail Mary pass to Quinton Richmond as time expired in the first half that gave the Wildcats an 18-3 lead.

“That was a prayer,” Jones said. “I just put it up for grabs and hoped that someone would come down with it.”

 
Donte Tolbert (18 carries, 158 yards) had a 30-yard touchdown run, and Jones (19 carries, 79 yards) added a 27-yard run with 2:28 left in the third quarter.
 
Jacob Reynolds returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown with 4:01 left in the third quarter to pull T.F. South within 26-10. Chris Keene kicked a 35-yard field goal to give the Rebels their first score at the 11:37 mark of the third quarter.