The Thayer Bobcats will face off against the Mountain Grove Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Thayer comes in on eight and Mountain Grove on seven.
Thayer's defense heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They claimed a resounding 69-0 win over Willow Springs. The Bobcats might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won five matchups by 35 points or more this season.
Heath Combs had an outrageously good game as he rushed for 202 yards and three scores on only seven carries. Those three rushing touchdowns gave him a new career-high. Thomas Poole was in the mix as well, providing Thayer with two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when Mountain Grove challenged Houston on Friday. The Panthers really took it to the Tigers for the full four quarters, racking up a 46-13 victory. The Panthers pushed the score to 39-7 by the end of the third, a deficit the Tigers had no chance of recovering from.
Thayer better keep an eye on Aden Estep. He was instrumental in Mountain Grove's win, rushing for 237 yards and four TDs on only ten carries, while also throwing for 25 yards and one touchdown. Another rusher making a difference was Braydon Curtiss, who rushed for 123 yards and one score while picking up 7.7 yards per carry.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Mountain Grove was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 542 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Mountain Grove didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Kaden Murphy and Estep.
Thayer's record now sits at 8-0. As for Mountain Grove, their record is now 7-1.
Thayer ended up a good deal behind Mountain Grove in their previous meeting back in October of 2024, losing 26-7. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Estep, who rushed for 105 yards and three TDs, and also threw for 37 yards and one touchdown. Now that the Bobcats know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
