Thunder Mountain inches past Homer in football

The small school Homer Mariners struggled to contain medium school Thunder Mountain High School Falcons running back Q’on Bear-Clark, who scored four times and racked up 316 rushing yards on 39 carries.

A back-and-forth battle on Saturday saw Homer take the lead with just over 11 minutes remaining on a 45-yard completion from quarterback Teddy Croft to Justin Sumption, which put the Mariners ahead 24-20.

However, Thunder Mountain struck fast with a drive that ended with Bear-Clark pushing ahead for a three-yard touchdown, putting the Falcons into the lead 26-24 with just under 10 minutes left.

Bear-Clark scored again with 7:06 to play on a two-yard scamper, and the ensuing two-point conversion left Thunder Mountain with a 10-point margin. Homer cut it back to four points with a 60-yard bomb from Croft to Michael Swoboda, but that would be all she wrote.

Homer dropped to 1-4 overall, while Thunder Mountain moved to 2-3.

Croft ended the day with three touchdown strikes for 201 passing yards, completing 7 of 10 throws, and added a rushing touchdown, one of 19 carries that totaled 55 yards. Josh Fisk ran for 118 yards on 16 carries, including a touchdown. Greg Smith caught three passes for 71 yards.

FALCONS 34, MARINERS 30

Thunder Mountain 8/6/6/14 — 34

Homer 6/0/12/12 — 30

1st Quarter

TMHS — Bear-Clark 95 run (Bear-Clark run), 12:00

HOMER — Fisk 49 run (kick failed), 10:00

2nd Quarter

TMHS — Crawford 15 pass from Jenkins (kick failed), 5:00

3rd Quarter

TMHS — Bear-Clark 15 run (kick failed), 7:05

HOMER — Croft 3 run (kick failed), 5:05

HOMER — Fisk 4 pass from Croft (kick failed), :00