Towns carries load for Thornton

Updated: September 10, 2011 10:03PM

Thornton’s running game, namely junior Jamal Towns, took over in the second half as the Wildcats (2-1, 1-0) knocked off Bradley-Bourbonnais 26-14 in Southwest Suburban Red play at Harvey Saturday afternoon.

Towns rushed 23 times for 104 yards and two touchdowns in the second half, allowing Thornton to hold off the Boilermakers (1-2, 0-1). Towns finished with 130 yards on 31 carries.

“Our offensive line started blocking better,” Towns said. “They were OK in the first half, but they came out playing in the second half.”

Thornton held a 12-7 lead at the half when Jamel Frazier caught a 39-yard Hail Mary pass from Towns’ twin brother, quarterback Jason Towns, as time expired.

“I just went after and got it,” Frazier said. “The defender and I both had the ball, but I took it away.”

Frazier’s play allowed Thornton to take the momentum into the half and the Wildcats’ running game kept it on Thornton’s side. Frazier had a 49-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter to start the scoring.

“Last week we threw the ball a lot,” Jamal Towns said of a 20-14 loss to Naperville North. “We wanted to open up our attack more this week.”

Thornton threw for 142 yards and rushed for 26 yards in the first half. The Wildcats rushed for 120 yards and passed for three yards in the second half.

“We made some adjustments at the half and they worked out for us,” Thornton coach Bill Mosel said. “We felt like we had to commit to the run in the second half if we were going to win.”

Bradley took the second-half kickoff and marched to the Thornton 19-yard line before Gavin Patterson missed a 36-yard field goal. After the Boilermakers forced a Thornton punt, Bradley’s Seth Pallissard muffed the punt and Thornton’s Jamal Towns recovered. The Wildcats drove 49 yards in nine plays with Towns scoring on a 3-yard run Towns kept the drive alive with a fourth-down run of 19 yards and a third-down run of 15 yards.

His final touchdown came after Bradley scored to make it 20-14 with 9:43 left on a 5-yard run by Devail Bryant. Thornton went on a 15-play, 74-yard drive that used all but 2:59 of the clock. Towns, who carried 10 times for 54 yards in the drive, scored from one yard out.

“This is a big win because it’s our first conference win,” Mosel said. “They beat us last year. They jumped on us 20-0 and we ended up losing 35-28.”

Bradley quarterback Nick Pippin completed 21 of 36 passes for 220 yards.

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