Thompson Carries Stillwater To 28-6 Win

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Both Norman and Stillwater were looking for their first wins of the season on Thursday night. After a slow start on both sides, the defending 6A-2 state champs would get their running game and overall offense rolling. They would be led by senior running back [player_tooltip player_id='215207' first='Holden' last='Thompson'] and a dominant defense to beat Norman 28-6. This win should give the Pioneers plenty of momentum as they head into a district that should be incredibly competitive from start to finish. The 28-6 victory was also the first win for head coach Chad Cawood, who took over the Stillwater program in July. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Pioneers set the tone defensively early on in the game that it was going to be tough for the Tigers to move the ball on offense. On Norman's first possession, they started at the Stillwater 27 but they would be moved back and eventually go three and out. They would have to punt and the Tigers could never gain any momentum on offense. The Pioneers would score late in the first quarter on a Thompson touchdown run after a 90-yard drive. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Halfway through the second quarter, Thompson added another touchdown run as quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='375968' first='Chance' last='Acord'] would have a stretch where he completed ten consecutive passes. Norman got their only points late in the second quarter when [player_tooltip player_id='595764' first='Dax' last='Noles'] would return a Stillwater punt 60 yards for a touchdown. The Pioneers led 14-6 at halftime and extended that lead in the third quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After Norman went three and out to start the second half, the Pioneers would strike on their first possession as Acord found [player_tooltip player_id='215206' first='Heston' last='Thompson'] all by himself for a 29-yard touchdown. [player_tooltip player_id='215207' first='Holden' last='Thompson'] would then find the end zone for the third time on the night as he got loose for a 70-yard touchdown late in the third quarter and that was the final score of the game. The Pioneers improved to 1-2 while the Tigers now go into district play still searching for that first win of 2023. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>STILLWATER'S TOP PERFORMERS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["375968"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"Stillwater's offense had somewhat of a slow start but senior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='375968' first='Chance' last='Acord'] got them rolling. He started 3-7 but would rattle off ten consecutive completions. On the night, Acord would 19-25 for nearly 200 yards and the touchdown to [player_tooltip player_id='215206' first='Heston' last='Thompson'] in the third quarter. Acord was also a threat in the running game with eight carries for 32 yards. Acord did a really good job of commanding the offense and once the Pioneers got going, it was tough to slow them down. Acord made the move to Stillwater this offseason from Cashion and is getting his opportunity to play football at a high level. The passing game did a good job throughout the night and Acord has some good weapons at receiver.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_1_player":["215207"],"_player_evaluations_1_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"There's no doubt that the player of the game was senior running back [player_tooltip player_id='215207' first='Holden' last='Thompson'] on Thursday night. Thompson ran for 247 yards and three touchdowns on 30 carries. And the thing that impressed us the most was that Thompson was just as effective, if not even stronger in the second half when the Norman defense started to wear down. And that's definitely something to keep in mind moving forward as Thompson had to miss all of his junior season with a leg injury. On Thursday night, he proved that he's come back stronger than ever. Thompson only had 12 carries for 86 yards before halftime. In the second half, he had 18 carries for 161 yards and had seven carries of 10 yards or more.","_player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_2_player":["467410"],"_player_evaluations_2_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_2_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_2_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"We mentioned earlier that Stillwater's defense was absolutely dominant and the Norman running game had issues getting going early on in the contest and sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='467410' first='Nehemiah' last='Kolone'] was a big reason behind that. On Norman's first possession, they started at the Stillwater 27 but was pushed back, including a Kolone sack on third down that caused the Tigers to lose 16 yards. Just a few possessions later, Kolone would come up with another big sack on fourth down to turn the Tigers over. Kolone is a player we watched on film last season but he had not made an impact on the varsity level yet. It's apparent to us that he has the ability to be an impact player for an aggressive Pioneer defense.","_player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":3,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6504772583574"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->