Disastrous first quarter spells end for Flintridge Prep football in loss to Thacher

OJAI — Six touchdowns. Six successful two-point conversions. Two hundred and 67 yards of offense. And 48 points.

That was the final tally for The Thacher School’s offensive production in the first quarter of its eight-man nonleague game against Flintridge Prep.

Though it was the first quarter, it was most decidedly the conclusion for Flintridge Prep on a hot Saturday afternoon in Ojai, as Thacher prevailed, 68-41, to send the Rebels to their third consecutive loss.

“If anything could go wrong, it went wrong,” Flintridge Prep Coach Russell White said of a first quarter in which Thacher rumbled to a 48-6 lead. “It was that bad. I can’t fluff it. Mistakes on top of mistakes on top of mistakes.”

Thacher (4-2), ranked second in CIF Southern Section Eight-Man Division I, was outstanding, but Flintridge Prep (4-3), ranked sixth, could not click offensively early on, had its share of special teams gaffes and missed myriad assignments defensively.

“We were just out of it, you could see it in the first quarter,” White said. “There was nothing we could do.”

Thacher quarterback Reese Proctor hooked up with running back Laurence Jackson for a 70-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage. On Prep’s ensuing possession, which netted only a yard, Proctor blew through the middle of the line to block a punt and returned it 13 yards for a score.

Just like that, Thacher led, 16-0, only a minute and 16 seconds into the game.

“Obviously, we don’t want to start out that way,” Rebels running back/defensive back Danny Chiarodit said. “That first play there was some miscommunication.”

Thacher built a 24-0 lead before Rebels quarterback John Lytle connected with receiver Nick Davis for a three-yard touchdown to cut it to 24-6, but the carnage really ensued thereafter.

The Toads’ wild ride of momentum saw them score 18 straight points without the Rebels possessing the ball as they recovered two onside kicks and turned the game into a rout.

Lytle completed 13 of 36 passes for 155 yards and four touchdowns and a pair of two-point conversions. Chiarodit rushed for 85 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries and a two-pointer. Davis had two touchdown catches and running back Kendall Kikkawa and receiver Ramzi Beshir had one apiece. Bruce Dennis had the Rebels’ biggest play with a 70-yard kickoff return for a touchdown just before halftime.

Proctor’s final stats were monstrous. He completed just five of 10 passes, but they went for 182 yards and four touchdowns. He added the return on the punt block and threw for three two-point conversions and ran for another as the Toads converted all seven of their two-point conversions. Jackson had three total touchdowns and Jacques Robles had two. The Toads had nine touchdowns in all.

The second quarter and third quarter were played with a running clock, ending with Thacher leading, 54-19, at the half and 54-33 after the third. Flintridge Prep’s spirited play in the third quarter led to the fourth being played with a standard clock.

“[Thacher Coach Jeff Hooper] pulled out his starters, which was very classy on his part,” White said.

The Rebels got to within 61-41 following a Chiarodit 10-yard touchdown run, but a Zion Alcindor interception that came to be when a Rebels receiver stopped short on his route over the middle was returned 25 yards for the final touchdown of the game as the Toads starters had returned.

“We didn’t quit and that’s the thing we really pride ourselves on,” Chiarodit said.

Flintridge Prep’s previous losses to Cate (55-48) and Downey Calvary Chapel (38-37) saw the Rebels make furious comeback bids after incurring early deficits, but Saturday’s was far too big a hole to climb out from.