Arbor View turns 4th downs into touchdowns, rolls to ‘Bulls’ win — PHOTOS
Deciding whether or not to go for it on fourth down is a tough decision for most high school football coaches.
With the offense the Arbor View football team has, the choice was easy for Aggies coach Marlon Barnett.
Arbor View went for it on fourth down three times against Legacy on Friday night, and all three attempts went for touchdowns. The Aggies, No. 3 in the Review-Journal’s Class 5A rankings, went on to roll to a 49-7 home win over No. 6 Legacy in the annual “Battle of the Bulls” game.
“It’s more of a gut feeling,” Barnett said about going for it on fourth down. “We have a great kicker, too, but it’s more of a gut feeling. If we’re moving the ball and if tide is rolling our way, we just have to roll with it.”
Sophomore quarterback Thaddeus Thatcher completed 14 of 20 passes for 202 yards and five touchdowns for Arbor View (2-0). He added a 31-yard rushing score to help the Aggies continue their dominance in the rivalry game by winning the “The Horns” trophy for the 10th straight season.
“It felt amazing. We put in a lot of work and preparation into this week, and it showed on the field,” Thatcher said. “This is what we’ve expected. We’ve been putting in work for a while now, and it’s just fun to show it on the field finally.”
Arbor View led 14-7 midway through the second quarter. The Aggies created some much-needed breathing room from Legacy (1-2) right before halftime when Thatcher connected with Kai Cypher on a 10-yard touchdown with 3:36 left in the second quarter.
Thatcher then scrambled for his rushing touchdown with 29 seconds before halftime. The Aggies led 27-7 at the break.
“That’s something we definitely needed, to just kind of grab the momentum back,” Barnett said. “I’m super proud of these dudes, it could have gone the other way quick.”
Thatcher helped carry the momentum into the second half. He connected with Jayden Williams for touchdown passes of 6 and 5 yards to put the Aggies lead 41-6 late in the third quarter. The 5-yard score came on fourth down.
Three of Williams’ four catches went for touchdowns. He added a 21-yard catch early in the second quarter on Arbor View’s second fourth-down TD conversion.
“He’s definitely the top receiver in the state, for sure,” Thatcher said. “He’s definitely slept on, and people need to check his film.”
Thatcher added a 39-yard touchdown pass to running back Sean Moore for Arbor View’s final score and to trigger the running clock.
Moore also had a 2-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-goal for Arbor View’s first score.
“Once (Thatcher) settled down and relaxed — it was a big-time crowd for our first home game and coming off a big first week — he was trying to force some things to happen versus letting it come to him,” Barnett said. “That’s what he did in the second half.”
Senior linebacker and Utah commit Christian Thatcher, the older brother of Thaddeus, had an interception, a fumble recovery and five tackles on defense.
Dominic Oliver helped keep Legacy in it for most of the first half. He had a 12-yard touchdown catch to tie the game 7-7, but the Longhorns struggled to move the ball the rest of the game.
Oliver finished with 97 receiving yards, all in the first half, and had an interception on defense. Legacy quarterback Aidan Crawford completed 13 of 27 passes for 132 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.