By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
They had been on the losing end of three consecutive blowout losses to their across-Route-104 rivals – 41-7, 41-7 and 38-0 – the past three years.
Oh, but it got even worse for the Webster Thomas football team. The Titans hadn’t defeated Webster Schroeder since 2015. That’s a decade worth of playing second fiddle in your own town.
Which is why Friday’s dominating 28-7 victory felt so good for the Titans.
Running back/linebacker Michael “MJ” Wells scored a pair of touchdowns – one on the ground, the other with an interception return – and quarterback Nolan Bhame ran for one and threw for another as Thomas (3-1) ran its winning streak to three while the visiting Warriors (1-3) lost their third straight.
“This is the stuff you dream about, being able to give it to them like that,” said Bhame, who perfectly executed a screen pass that led to the clinching touchdown.
That 11-yard catch-and-run to Tyler Estelle on fourth-and-10 extended the Titans lead to 21-7 with 2:43 remaining and came on what a year ago was their go-to play. This year, however, they’ve had difficulty perfecting it.
“We’ve tried it a couple times but we were struggling,” Bhame said.
Further work in practice this week did the trick. And the fact that coach Jason Jobson called a screen on fourth-and-long indicated just how much he believed in not only the play but his first-year quarterback.
The Titans already led 14-7, so a field goal in all likelihood would have clinched victory as well. And on third down, Bhame failed to connect with a wide-open Nicholas Adams in the end zone.
“Obviously I missed a throw I gotta make,” Bhame said.
No worries, as it turned out. The coaching staff put it right back in his hands.
“We thought about a field goal,” Jobson admitted, “but the kids said, ‘No, let’s go for it.’ ”
Bhame dropped back, drew the hard pass rush to him, then flipped a pass over the line to Estelle, who caught the ball around the 9 and scampered into the end zone.
“You know that’s the game-sealer,” Bhame said.
Getting to that point wasn’t easy, however. While the Titans were in control of the momentum and dominated in terms of field position since scoring on their first possession of the game, they led just 7-0 at the half and only 14-7 after Schroeder’s Liam Torpey powered into the end zone from 2 yards out a minute into the fourth quarter.
But they finally scored the clinching TD with under three minutes to playing, taking advantage of a short field to put together a 36-yard scoring drive, which included going for it on fourth down. Again.
Twice in the game, Schroeder’s defense smothered Wells on fourth-down runs, resulting in a turnover on downs. This time, very much in a passing situation on fourth-and-11, they dialed up the screen pass and converted.
“They’re daring us to throw the ball so at some point you have to throw it,” Jobson said. “The screen was our best play last year.”
The lead ballooned to 28-7 on the first play of Schroeder’s ensuing possession. Wells read the intentions of quarterback Kalin Watkins, stepped in front of receiver Robert Kenny along the right sideline, picked off the pass and waltzed untouched into the end zone with the 34-yard interception return.
“I knew he wanted to get it out of bounds (with the quick catch along the sideline) and when he threw the ball I just jumped in front,” Wells said.
The defensive touchdown added to his impressive night on offense. He rushed 29 times for 164 yards.
“He’s a generational player,” Bhame said. “He’s the best you can be on both sides of the ball.”
On Friday, the Titans as a team were usually best on both sides of the ball as well, which enabled them to finally put an end to the losing streak to Schroeder.
“We just wanted it more and got after it,” Wells said.
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