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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

After a shootout went Thorsby High School’s way last season, Isabella High School got its revenge over its cross-county rivals 21-14 at home on Aug. 22. The Rebels and Mustangs combined for nearly 100 points in 2023 with Thorsby winning 50-43. The once region rivals renewed their rivalry this year to start both of the school’s campaigns.

As halftime approached and the score tied at 14, Thorsby was threatening inside the Isabella red zone. Thorsby quarterback Grayson McManus’ pass fell incomplete as time ran out in the first half, a stop that would prove very pivotal for Isabella later on.

The teams combined for three turnovers in the first half, two by the Mustangs that set up Thorsby with a short field and led to both touchdowns.

“It was really simple (at halftime) — do not turn the ball over. That will get you beat,” Isabella head coach Tate Leonard said. “We got that fixed, and then some of the issues on defense were we just did not get aligned. We had a starter get hurt in warmups and two more starters right at the start of the game, so a lot of different people had to play and they really found a way. Thorsby is a great team, so this was a great win.”

Both defenses came out to play in the second half as the teams traded no-score possessions the first four of the half, the last a fourth down stop by Isabella late in the third quarter. On the next play, running back Jedaiah Works broke off a long 66-yard touchdown run to give Isabella its first lead of the game at 21-14 with just over a minute left in the quarter.

Works carried the ball 20 times and piled up 201 yards rushing and accounted for all three touchdowns for the Mustangs in the game. The Isabella offense only threw the ball four times the entire game relying heavily on the running game and Works.

“(Isabella) did a real good job of getting the ball and holding on to it, and we just could not get that stop that we needed to get till it was a little too late,” Thorsby head coach Daryl Davis said. “It was kind of roles reversed from last year, and they were just ready and did a good job. Hopefully our kids will go back to work tomorrow and learn from it.”

Thorsby got the ball back with just under 10 minutes left in the game, but its drive stalled and they punted the ball back to Isabella with 8:12 left. The Mustangs put together a drive that ran over seven minutes off the clock and ended inside the Thorsby red zone where they got the ball back after a fourth down stop with 35 seconds left. McManus tried to find receivers down field with no timeouts left, but was sacked from behind and Lane Mims recovered the fumble to give the season-opening win to the Mustangs.

McManus was 10-for-18 passing for 95 yards and one touchdown, and added 81 yards on 13 carries on the ground as the Rebels leading rusher.

“I know they are going to compete every time (on the field), and we will go back and watch it to see where we were good and bad,” Davis said. “We lost the first game last year and turned it around, so I think we will do that and go back to work and be okay.”

Thorsby and Isabella traded defensive stops to start their 2024 campaigns. McManus launched a punt following the Rebels first possession that was downed at the Mustangs two-yard line to pin Isabella deep in its own territory.

The Rebels defense rose up and forced a fumble that was recovered by Christopher Buendtner inside the Isabella 10-yard line. Buendtner broke the ice with an eight-yard touchdown run the next play to put Thorsby on top 7-0 midway through the first quarter. Buendtner ran for 26 yards on nine carries.

Isabella responded with a lengthy touchdown capped by Works’ 35-yard touchdown scamper to tie the game. The Mustangs got another stop on defense, but it was nullified quickly with an interception by Thorsby’s Shawn Davenport to set up the Rebels inside Mustang territory to start the second quarter. The Rebels capitalized on the second Isabella turnover of the first half again, this time with a four-yard touchdown toss from McManus to Brooks Barnett to make it 14-7. Barnett caught five passes for 30 yards.

Thorsby got the ball back midway through the second quarter, but Works made a huge play in the backfield to force a fumble and Isabella recovered inside Thorsby territory. Works did the same as his counterpart Buendtner and punched in the score following his own forced turnover with a two-yard touchdown run to tie the game again at 14 where the game stood until halftime.

Malachi Allgood was the leading tackler for Thorsby with 14 and a forced fumble, following by Tyler Lockhart with 13 stops and a sack.

“Our schedule is tough, and we better be in shape and we better be mentally tough, and at times (tonight) we did not look good at that, but we found a way,” Leonard said. “We have to keep working with a big rival next week.”

Isabella (1-0) will play host to Maplesville High School on Aug. 30 at 7 p.m., and Thorsby (0-1) will host Autauga Academy on the same day and time.