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Thigpen returns with four TDs in first Raider win of season
It's hard to slice it any other way: In order for Stonewall Jackson to succeed this year, Damien Thigpen has to play.
The winless Raiders finally put a tally in the W column Friday night with a 27-13 win over Loudoun Valley as Thigpen returned to the field for the first time this season after overcoming an ankle injury. He turned in a 206-yard, 4-touchdown performance.
“It's good. I've been missing it,” said Thigpen, who handled 31 of the Raiders' 48 rushes.
He handled almost all of Stonewall's offense as snaps were directly tossed to running backs for most of the night. No one completed a single pass for Stonewall (1-5), including one thrown by the University of Tennessee-bound Thigpen.
Right from the get-go, it was obvious the offensive game plan would revolve around Thigpen's presence in the backfield as he scampered for 67 yards on Stonewall's first drive of the first quarter, including a 24-yard touchdown run with 9:58 showing on the scoreboard.
Meanwhile, Sean Blackman helped the Stonewall defense hold its own as he pulled in an interception after just missing one on the previous play less than five minutes into the game.
Blackman also rushed for 36 yards on 10 carries.
“I'm the speed, and he's the thunder,” said Thigpen.
But Loudoun Valley's defense stepped up in the second quarter, limiting Thigpen to seven yards rushing while senior Viking running back Chris Music hit paydirt twice to give the visiting team a 13-6 halftime edge.
“It was a lot of yelling and a lot of cussing,” said Thigpen of what happened inside the Stonewall locker room during the intermission. “It was a wake-up call for some of the guys.”
The teams traded three-and-outs to start the second half, leading to a second Loudoun Valley possession.
On a third-and-10, linebacker James Myrick turned in his own starlit play by cracking quarterback Iain Mottice in the backfield, knocking the ball loose for a fumble recovered by LV's Music.
The Vikings were forced to punt and would not earn another first down until their last drive of the game, which was ended when Blackman intercepted his second pass of the day, this time at the SJ 1-yard line.
All the while, Thigpen just kept coming after Loudoun Valley. Only one of his nine carries in the third quarter amounted for 10 yards or more, but his persistence paid off with an 8-yard run into the end zone with 10 seconds to go before the final period.
As soon as possession returned to Stonewall again, Thigpen wasted no time in running past the LV secondary on a 28-yard dash, which he followed up with a touchdown run to his left side after bobbling the snap.
Thigpen capped off his comeback on a first-and-goal 3-yard score moving from his left to right behind the offensive line, causing the play-calling coordinators in in the booth to do something they had not done all season: exchange high-fives.
Stonewall travels to Fauquier this Friday before returning to Manassas Oct. 24 for homecoming against Osbourn Park. An away match against Osbourn Oct. 31 and a home game versus Culpeper Nov. 7 will close out the Raiders' season.
All games begin at 7:30 p.m.
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