Thunderbirds fly away with win in second half

By DAVE CLARK

Journal Sports Writer

WINTHROP -- Speed kills.

Or at the very least, it killed the Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial Knights Friday night as the Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop Thunderbirds scored 26 unanswered points in the second half en route to a 33-6 victory.

The Thunderbirds almost killed their chance to snag their first victory with a first half filled with turnovers and mistakes, taking a narrow 7-6 lead into halftime.

"At the half, the assistant coaches did a great job of communicating and doing what we were supposed to," said GFW coach Pat Hentges. "We knew that once we got past their line, we had guys that can bust a play."

The biggest Thunderbird buster was running back Eli Werner, who took advantage of big holes his linemen opened for him that allowed him to use his quickness and speed to rack up 201 yards on the ground.

"I appreciated the line tonight," said Werner. "We were practicing for the running this week."

"We've been able to open holes this year," said lineman Matt Schweiss. "I think we were physically in better shape than they (LCWM) were."

GFW was anything but impressive in their opening offensive drives. The first was stopped on an interception, the second with a punt, the third by a dropped pass, the fourth by a fumbled punt return and the fifth with a snap from center that went over the punters head and set up the sole Knights score of the night.

LCWM was fourth and goal from the Thunderbirds 10 when Jesse VanSickle hit an open Jeremy Hutchens in the end zone for an early 6-0 lead.

But the Thunderbirds decided to quit depending on the defense to get them out of jams by going on a 64 yard, 3:36 minute, ten-play drive that was capped by a three yard TD run by Werner. A good extra point by Glen Brooks gave GFW the one point edge at half.

The second half started with a three and out by the Knights and it was time for the halftime Thunderbird adjustments to kick in.

This time GFW drove 73 yards in 11 plays with Patrick O'Malley jumping high in the end zone to grab an 18-yard pass from quarterback James Panning. "They said to just throw it up there and have 'em go get it," said Panning.

Another tough Thunderbird defensive stand gave GFW the ball back after another three plays and this time they went 77 yards on 14 plays but also ran 6:46 off the clock at a point in the game where time was becoming a factor. The Thunderbirds found themselves at the Knights 3-yard line when the LCWM defense suddenly stiffened and stuffed GFW on three straight run attempts up the middle. So Panning kept the ball on fourth down, sped to the right and scored the Thunderbirds third TD that made it 20-6. The third straight good extra point from Brooks made it 21-6.

It was O'Malley's sharp eyes that really put the game out of reach for the Knights when he intercepted a VanSickle pass on the second play of the drive and returned the ball 23 yards for a touchdown, making the score 27-6.

"The quarterback (VanSickle) was looking at who he was throwing to most of the night," said O'Malley.

The night cap for the Thunderbirds came after Panning intercepted another VanSickle pass and returned the ball to the GFW 42. After gaining six yards on the first play from scrimmage, he handed the ball to Werner, who blasted through another hole and went 58 yards for the last Thunderbird TD that reflected the final 33-6 result.

The Thunderbirds are now 1-2 on the season, while LCWM drops to 0-3. The Thunderbirds host Martin County West next Friday at 7 p.m.