The Thornton Academy Golden Trojans came away with another dominant victory on Saturday over the Sanford Spartans, 56-13, during their homecoming weekend. This is Thornton’s fourth win in a row, and they improved their record 6 to 1. Running back Connor Ayoob reached over 1,000 yards on the season and ran for three touchdowns, giving him 17 touchdowns on the season. Captain Dominic Hussey also ran in a touchdown and caught a two-point conversion, resulting in a commanding offensive performance. Despite explosive plays out of the passing game from Sanford Quarterback Adam Cote and a rushing touchdown from Jayden Franco, the Thornton defense was too overwhelming. TA holds their second overall spot in Class-A South football while Sanford falls 2 to 5 on the year. With another year of turnover from a senior-loaded class, Coach Kezal has this team right where they want to be heading into November. 

I asked senior captain Dom Hussey about what the experience is like at Thornton Academy during homecoming week, how he and the team keep their head on straight during one of the most hyped portions of the season, and he told me, “Coach keeps us locked in and also makes us appreciate the moment, we have three long, hard days of practice when we have Saturday games; it’s hammering our assignments home and continuous repetition that keeps us locked in on just going 1-0 every week.”

I asked Dom about being a leader as well. He got playing time as a sophomore, a starter in his junior year, and now a starter and captain in his senior year. I asked him what it was like being the lead voice on the defense after all this time. He responded by saying, “There’s a lot of young guys on that offense, but the guys on defense have been with me for years, they know what to expect. For me, it’s about getting the young guys acclimated to this winning culture and the next play mentality.” I asked Dom about the preparation going into the biggest game of the season with Bonny Eagle and what the feeling is like. He concluded by saying, “Coach will have us ready, we just must follow our keys. We’ve had this one circled for a while, and I am sure they have too; this is the biggest game of our season, and we will all be locked in mentally.”