Editor's note: This story originally appeared in the
Oct. 31, 1998 editions of The Dallas Morning News.
BEDFORD – Irving's players may be willing to walk a mile for a playoff
bid, but after Friday they'd probably rather spring running back Tyson
Thompson.
Thompson ran for 525 yards and seven long touchdowns Friday in a
critical 45-29 District 7-5A victory over Hurst L.D. Bell at Pennington
Field.
Thompson, limited last week to 27 yards on 23 carries against rival
Irving Nimitz, has 1,985 yards for the season.
The victory kept the Tigers' (5-4 overall, 3-3 in district) playoff
hopes alive. Bell (4-4, 3-2) will need a victory against unbeaten Euless
Trinity and help in other 7-5A games next week to make the playoffs.
"I didn't expect to have this many yards, but I have great respect for
my offensive line, and they deserve all the credit." Thompson said. "Our
coaches showed us that Bell might be weak against the cutback lanes. The
line gave me a chance to get there, and things just worked out for us."
Thompson, a 6-1, 184-pound junior, did not appear to have worked that
hard at all, mainly because the bulk of his yardage came on sprints for
the goal line.
Starting with a 74-yard touchdown dash on Irving's first offensive play,
Thompson also scored on runs of 52, 67, 47, 80, 91 and 50 yards.
His final scoring play came with 1:10 left and sealed the victory.
The host Raiders also had what normally would have been outstanding
offense, totaling 427 yards.
A closer look at Irving junior running back Tyson Thompson's
record-setting performance Friday, when he rushed 33 times for 526 yards
and seven touchdowns against Hurst L.D. Bell:
• 1 touchdown for every 4.7 carries.
• 10.9 yards per minute (high school games are 48 minutes).
• 15.9 yards per carry.
• 65.9 average yards per touchdown run (the seven ranged from 47 to 91
yards).
• 95.3 percent of Irving's total offense (552 yards) was produced by
Thompson.
