It was pretty obvious Richards junior Tommie Thomas was playing with plenty of incentive Friday night.
His relatives were in town from Detroit to watch him in action.
Thomas didn’t disappoint. He returned an interception 54 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter and added a leaping 27-yard TD reception in the next quarter as the host Bulldogs cruised to a 48-7 victory over Eisenhower in the South Suburban Red conference.
The Bulldogs improved to 6-1, 3-0, while the Cardinals fell to 4-3, 1-2.
“That TD pass, I liked that one,” Thomas said with a smile. “The interception got me going personally, and I wanted to do good in front of my family. They wanted to see coach get No. 301.”
“Coach” is Gary Korhonen, who continues to close in on state high school history with his 301st coaching victory.
Bulldogs quarterback Deandre Haynes added a 75-yard TD pass to Wayne Drummer, who finished with 111 yards rushing on 19 carries.
Haynes was 8 of 12 for 171 yards, including the two TD passes. He also rushed for two touchdowns, of 1 and 3 yards.
Meanwhile, the defense added two other interception returns for touchdowns. Justin Harris returned his interception 65 yards a minute into the game, and Trevon Wimberly returned an interception 1 yard after teammate Donte Kelly forced a bad throw in the end zone by the Cardinals quarterback.
“The offense didn’t have to come on the field with our defense stepping it up like they did,” Haynes said. “We had a lot of good practices this week. We got back on track.
“We all love coach Korhonen. He’s like a father to us.”
