It was the Thomas Maxey show on Saturday night.
In the nightcap of the second annual Citizens First Bowl at Houchens-Smith Stadium, the Warren East running back was feeling it. He was fired up, focused and fully prepared to try and help his team earn its first win of the season.
If it wasn’t for Maxey, his team wouldn’t have received that said win on Saturday. But since Warren East had a guy like Maxey on its side of the field, the Raiders were able to place a checkmark in the win column.
“I’m real excited for us,” Maxey said. “I’m glad we were just doing work. That’s what practice does for us.”
Maxey – a senior – unloaded for six total touchdowns and 399 all-purpose yards to lead Warren East (1-1) to a hard-fought, 47-30 victory over Greenwood — the Raiders’ second consecutive win over their longtime rival.
“I thought, offensively, Thomas had an outstanding game,” Warren East coach Jeff Griffith said. “Our offensive line did a really good job of getting on (Greenwood) and being physical and create some lanes – and once Thomas gets in the secondary, he’s tough to get down.”
Finishing with 18 carries for 303 yards and five TDs on the ground, Maxey also recorded a 96-yard kickoff return score.
Even though he was the star of the show, Maxey was quick to credit his teammates – especially his offensive line – for allowing him to register the performance he did.
“My offensive line was doing real good up front,” Maxey said. “My whole line was out there blocking. Nolan (Ford) was making great plays out there. For a young quarterback, he’s doing great.
“Because of them, I was able to make plays.”
Ford – as Maxey mentioned – put together a solid outing for the Raiders. The sophomore quarterback completed 11-of-17 passes for 81 yards and a touchdown, which went to wide receiver Jastin Proctor – who finished with six receptions for 44 yards and a score.
While Maxey was the leader for the club sporting bright yellow uniforms, many others stepped up to make for a balanced night for East.
“We just need to keep getting better,” Griffith said. “That’s all you can do. We’re trying to keep playing at our best each week so we’re ready for those district games.”
Greenwood (1-1) delivered the first punches of the night and built a 10-0 lead early into the second quarter. The Gators led 17-7 near the end of the second before Maxey’s 96-yard kickoff return TD made it 17-14 at halftime.
From there, the Raiders went onto outscore Greenwood 33-13 in the second half to pull away and bounce back from their Week 1 loss at Portland, Tenn.
“It means a lot,” said Thomas of bouncing back. “Our heads were down last week losing to Portland. I’m glad to see our energy – and everybody’s happy. I think we’ll be all right.”
Greenwood was the aggressor early.
After jumping out to a 10-0 lead on a 26-yard field goal from Ben Patterson and Zach Langevin’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Bryce Johnson, Warren East had to play from behind.
The Gators held a 17-7 lead with 2:20 remaining in the first half following a three-yard TD run from Reed Slone but the Raiders kept knocking on the door.
“We moved the ball successfully throughout the game, and I thought we did a pretty nice job upfront offensively,” Greenwood coach William Howard said. “But we just had too many breakdowns on offense, defense and special teams against a good team like Warren East.”
Warren East cut its deficit to 17-14 at the break but still trailed 24-21 at the end of three quarters.
The Raiders soon went to work in the fourth.
Trailing by three, East found the end zone four times in the final quarter – with three of those TDs coming from Maxey.
“They were tough to get off the field. We finally got them off one time and they had to punt – and that allowed us to make it a two-score game,” said Griffith. “We felt pretty good once we got it to two scores.”
Warren East returns to action next Friday on the road at Wayne County, with kickoff set for 7 p.m. CT. Greenwood travels to Allen County-Scottsville next Friday for a 7 p.m. contest.
“Everybody was playing hard – and I’m loving it. If we can just bring that energy next week, we’ll be all right,” said Maxey.
