Willow Battles Thayer Bobcats

The Willow Springs Bears gave the Thayer Bobcats a run for their money on Friday night, narrowly losing 22-21.

Thayer elected to receive and drew first blood in the first 13 seconds of the game. On the Bears’ first possession, Gavin Ferguson ran the ball for Willow's first down. Ryan Friga then threw the ball from the Bear 40 to Ryan Koehler, who caught it and ran it to the Bobcat 27. Gavin Ferguson received and streaked down the right side for a 22-yard touchdown. Thomas Sidorovich’s kick was good.  

On defense, Dylan Ferguson was a thorn in the Thayer offense. He took down three players by himself and caused a loss of yards against Thayer twice.

Nate McDaniel showed his speed on a kickoff. He received the ball on the Bear 30, ran it past the defense, juking two tackles, and made it to the Bobcat 32 for a first down.

Friga then connected to Koehler, who cut out another first down. 

The lethal combination of passing and running by Friga and Koehler made for some effective offense. Friga threw the ball to Koehler, who carried it deep to the Thayer 18-yard line. Despite the effective offense, a fumble gave the Bobcats took control of the ball on their 18-yard line. 

Willows's defense was quick to capitalize on the short distance and forced the Bobcat QB back for a two-point safety. 

Koehler made a touchdown when Friga passed him the ball on the Bear 49. Koehler took it down right for an impressive 51-yard pass play. The PAT was blocked.

On defense, Warren Ennis sacked the quarterback before he could get a snap off, and Koehler intercepting a Bobcat pass. 

Koehler made one more touchdown, receiving a deep pass which he caught over two Bobcats deep in the endzone. On the conversion, Willow elected to punch it in for two points, but the play was inert, sealing the deal for Willow. With a final score of 22 to 21, Thayer.

Willow is now 3-5 in their season and will take on the Ava Bears this Thursday in an away game. Ava is 5-3 in their season.