Wildcats running back Zac Thompson powers his way past a Rivercrest defender onhis way to scoring the first of four touchdowns on the night during Trumanns 38-13 win. (Democrat photo/Mark Randall)

Wildcats head coach Greg White knew he had a good offense, but was a little anxious and nervous about their running game going in to the game against Rivercrest.

But after watching the explosive performance turned in by Zac Thompson and the rest of his running backs, any questions he may have had about running the ball evaporated quickly as Trumann ran past Rivercrest 38-13 on Sept. 5 at Wildcats Field.

"We went in to the game knowing we wanted to run the ball," White said. "And by golly we proved we can run the ball."

Thompson carried the ball 12 times for 186 yards and four touchdowns as the Wildcats scored on their first four possessions. Thompson had runs of 10, 13, 48 and 11 yards.

"Zac makes my job so easy," White said. "He's so good offensively. He had some big plays for us offensively and defensively. He just makes us a better team."

The Wildcats jumped out to an early 6-0 lead scoring on 10 yard run by Thompson, his first of the night. The PAT by Louis Geutirrez was no good.

Dustin Miler intercepted Rivercrest quarterback Josh Flemming's pass on the Colt's first possession and ran it to the Rivercrest 22 yard line, setting up Thompson' second TD of the night, a 13 yard run to make it 12-0. The Cats failed to convert on a two point attempt.

The Cats would score their third unanswered touchdown of the quarter with Thompson exploding for 48 yards and his third touchdown of the night. Guetirrez PAT made it 19-0.

Trumann would widen the lead to 26-0 with quarterback Blaike Jones scoring on a 11 yard run and threatened to add to their lead but Geutirrez missed a 33 yard field goal attempt.

"I think Louis got a little nervous" White said. "This is the first time he has faced a live rush. He's a little out of rhythm. We had him kicking off and I think we're going to take him off and let him just work on extra points and get his rhythm."

Trumann widened its lead to 32-0 scoring on its opening possession of second half on a 14 yard run by.

Rivercrest finally got on the board on a reverse to Terrance Banks for a 34 yard TD but had its PAT blocked to make it 32-6.

Trumann answered with a 30 yard touchdown run by Colton Turner to make it 38-6. Turner also came up with an interception to kill a Rivercrest drive with five second left in the third quarter.

Banks's 7 yard touchdown run for Rivercrest against Trumann's second string defense made it 38-13 and ended a rough night for the Colts who managed less than 200 total yards on offense.

White said he was pleased with the team's effort.

"We came out and they really exceeded my expectations as far as execution," White said. "The first game of the year you're generally tired and don't execute. Well, we executed and we weren't really tired. We had quite an effort. We came out and played really hard."

Offensively for the Cats, Jones finished 6 for 12 on the night with 131 yards passing with one interception and eight carries for 74 yards and a touchdown. Colton Turner had four carries for 55 yards and a touchdown. Tommy Harris added four carried for 36 yards and Josh Spence had seven carries for 52 yards.

The only real down part of the night came when the Wildcats lost Joe Turner to a knee injury who may be lost for the season.

"According to the doctor it doesn't look real good," White said.

White said he was especially proud of the blocking game by his receivers.

I think it's easy sometimes to get disheartened because we're not throwing it every down and they could easily take every other play off.," White said. "But they don't. They blocked real well. Coach Haynes has done a really good job with them on stop blocking.

Although the defense lost some of its intensity toward the end of the game, White said they did what the coaches asked them to do the whole night-- run to the ball -- and really stepped up their play.

"I knew we were good offensively. But boy, our defense was swarming," White said. "We're not overall big on defense. But we have guys who can run to the ball and when get there they are not afraid to sacrifice their body to make the plays. They were very stingy all night. I was very proud of them."

Tommy Harris had 12 tackles, Colton Turner 11, and Zac Thompson and Ethan Heavener each had nine tackles. Dustin Miler and Colton Turner each had one interception.

"I think Colton Turner had the best overall game," White said. "He blocked an extra point. He had an interception and a big, long touchdown run. Colton just does everything right the way we ask him to. Ethan Heavener also had a real big game for us. He stayed on the field the whole night.

The Wildcats will face Nettleton at home on Friday in a match-up of former conference rivals.

"The biggest thing this week will be to keep the kids grounded," White said. "Nettleton is not as bad as they looked last week against Jonesboro. I watched the film on them. People need to understand that the game just got away from them just like our game got away from Rivercrest. Nettleton is a pretty good team and our kids are going to have to stay grounded and focus and come out with a determination to win this ballgame."