By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

The Windham Bombers got off to a slow start on Friday, but finished strong to turn a close game at halftime into a more comfortable 39-22 non-league win at St. Thomas Aquinas.

The Bombers outscored the Knights 27-6 in the second half after they trailed 16-12 at halftime.

“It was just a great team win,” Windham head coach Jake Eye said.

“We found ourselves in a hole at halftime, we challenged them in the locker room and they responded in a big way in the second half.”

Senior Chase Eye was the workhorse, scoring three different ways for the Bombers.

He started by throwing a touchdown pass in the first quarter to Lucas Churchill, then returned a punt and also had four touchdowns on the ground in an incredible all-around performance.

Eye’s punt return was from 62 yards out in the second quarter that gave Windham a temporary 12-8 lead before falling behind again on a 2-yard touchdown run by St. Thomas’ Quin Burick.

Eye scored the next three touchdowns for Windham (2-2), with the first re-gaining the lead at 20-16 for the Bombers, then he extended the team’s lead to 26-16 and 32-16 — all on runs of 11, 61 and 1 yard, respectively.

Eye scored the game’s final touchdown from 8 yards out with 2:18 to play in the fourth quarter.

For the game, Eye rushed 20 times for 265 yards. He was 4-of-7 throwing for 36 yards, and he returned two punts for 74 yards.

“Chase had a big night, but because our interior guys played with guts and grit in the second half,” Jake Eye said.

“I am extremely proud of the 16 kids available that played their guts out.”

In total, the Bombers rushed for 411 yards on 36 attempts (11.4 yards per carry).

In addition to Eye, Carlos Bruton had 74 yards on six carries and Jack Eye added 65 yards on seven attempts.

Windham will play at Southeast (3-2) in Week 6.