By Brandon Sumrall | Special to the Advertiser
The Thorsby Rebels remain undefeated after a big win on Friday night against cross-town rival Verbena, 48-0.
The Rebels found the end zone twice in the first half on a pair of long runs by Jacob Lockhart and Grayson Bice, that would give Thorsby an early 14-0 lead.
With the Thorsby defense stifling the Red Devil offense, the Rebels would punch one more in the end zone in the first half thanks to a 38-yard touchdown pass from halfback Grayson Bice to Cain Niece that would send the game to the half with Thorsby leading 21-0.
With the offense struggling to get anything going in the second half, the luck of the Red Devils would only get worse in the second half as on a third and nine from their own 36, a pass from quarterback Dawson Rohrbough fell into the hands of Chase Birchfield and resulted in a pick six for Thorsby and a 28-0 Rebels lead.
The Red Devils looked poised to answer with a scoring drive of their own on the ensuing possession but a completed pass from Rohrbough to Xavier Dejarnett would be stripped near the goal line and would be covered by the Rebels in the end zone for a touchback.
The turnover would not hurt the Red Devils as the Verbena defense would force the Rebels in to a punt for their own 39, but the home standing Red Devil offense would in turn go three and out.
The Thorsby offense would get back on track with their ensuing possession and would drive 68 yards on just two plays to cap off a scoring drive with a 25-yard touchdown run by Jacob Lockhart to bring the score to 34-0 in favor of the Rebels.
A 34-yard kickoff return by Trevor Hilyer would set the Verbena offense up at midfield on their ensuing possession but with the Red Devils facing a fourth and ten from midfield the punt attempt would be blocked by Kane Belk and would be scooped and scored by Angel Alcerro to put Thorsby up 41-0 early in the fourth quarter.
Thorsby would add one more score late in the game as Brian Belk would go in from nine yards out to bring the score to its final.
“Our team plays hard and we play physical, especially on defense,” Thorsby head coach Daryl Davis said. “We have a lot of speed on defense and they do a good job of flying around and swarm tackling. They really did a great job tonight on both sides of the ball.”