Comfort puts away Thrall for first district win, 57-43

COMFORT — After racing out to a 36-7 first-half lead, the Comfort Bobcats had to firm up and hold off a stubborn Thrall Tigers squad that refused to go away, with the ‘Cats capturing a hard-fought 57-43 home win on Friday.

With four teams from the rugged fiveteam District 13-3A DII advancing to the playoffs, this win could eventually put Comfort into post-season play.

Quarterback Omar Rivera and running backs Jared Valadez and Gabe Gonzalez each scored two touchdowns on the night, with Carter Pape and Aiden King each finding the end zone as well.

“I’m really proud of the way our guys performed and just kept moving along,” Comfort coach Jay Rieken said. “Thrall kept their foot on the gas all night and didn’t let us relax.”

Valadez scored from 9 yards out to open the scoring and after the Comfort defense forced a three-and-out, Pape capped a two-play drive with a 72-yard burst up the middle for a 14-0 lead at the 6:03 mark.

After Thrall cut the lead to 14-7, the Bobcats, 5-3 overall, tallied the next three TDs to build a 36-7 lead 1:07 before half.

But Thrall took advantage of a lax defense in the final minute, completing three passes to set up an 8-yard scoring run with 19 seconds left on the clock. A two-point conversion made the score 36-15 at half.

Thrall opened the scoring in the second half, trimming the Comfort lead to two scores, at 36-22. The teams traded scores the rest of the night.

Thrall came up with three fumble recoveries on the night, two in the second half that led to short-field TDs.

“I can’t say enough about our front line, they opened some holes for us,” Rieken said. “We’ve got to hang on to the ball, though. Those ball carriers can’t put the ball on the ground. We’re a good team, but if we want to be a great team, we can’t have those turnovers.”

Comfort (1-1 in district) is at Lexington on Friday as they continue district action.