Stephens County shuts out Seneca

SENECA — It was a night for the old and the new as freshman running back Chaz Thornton carried 25 times for 132 yards and senior quarterback Dacen Cash threw for 120 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead Stephens County to a hard fought 17-0 win at Seneca on Friday.

Just a 5-foot-5, 140-pound ninth grader in his first year on varsity, Thornton used a quick burst, and unusual toughness for his size, to grind out 5.3 yards per carry. of his diminutive tailback

“He’s a dynamite little kid,” Indians coach Travis Noland said. “He’s not very big and he’s not real strong yet, but he’s tough and he’s got great balance and good vision.”

The Bobcat defense, the lone bright spot on the Seneca side of the ledger, made Thornton earn every yard. Aside from a 40-yard sprint early in the third quarter, Thornton picked up his yards a little at a time with 19 of his carries going for 5 or fewer yards.

Cash also contributed to the victory connecting on a long 54-yard touchdown pass to senior Jaquan Trammell at the 6:13 mark of the first quarter and again on a 44-yard pass to senior Kadaryl Burtch just 3:38 into the second half.

Cash also had a 29-yard touchdown pass and a 32-yard scoring run called back due to holding penalties, which underscored a major problem for the Indian offense this night. Stephens County was flagged nine times for 75 yards on the evening and turned the ball over three times.

For Seneca, it was a familiar, but no less comforting bugaboo, that second-year coach Ron Duncan is faced correcting this week.

“I thought our defense played hard,” Duncan said. “We’ve got to change it up a little bit on offense. We’ve got to work on ball security and hang onto the football. We’ve turned it over ten times in two games. You’re not going to beat anybody doing that.”

Although both coaches were hesitant to blame illness, it is important to note that both teams were decimated by an outbreak of the flu this week. Seneca was forced to practice with just a handful of linemen early in the week and was without a number of players tonight, while Stephen’s County was without 12 players for part of the week’s practices.

This was the fourth consecutive victory for Stephens County in its series with Seneca and 12th in the last 13 meetings.

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