BOYS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

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Ty Thompson, Gilbert Mesquite, Football Gilbert Mesquite senior starting quarterback Ty Thompson proved to Gilbert (1-4) why he's The Republic's topranked QB and No. 2 game changer in the state in their 47-46 win over the Tigers on Oct. 30.

The Oregon commit Thompson staged an amazing comeback against the Wildcats' crosstown rival.

Mesquite (4-1) was outscored by Gilbert, 32-7 through the game's first three quarters, and trailed by three touchdowns in the final six minutes. Thompson threw three TD passes for 70, 65 and 12 yards to clinch the victory. He went 26-of-42 for 548 yards and had six TDs.

"We started off pretty slow in the first half and started trailing," Thompson said. "Gilbert is a good team and they didn't make mistakes or give us a ton of opportunities to score. We came out in the second half and late in the fourth quarter and capitalized on a few big drives and the defense continued to play well and we ended up pulling out the win."

Thompson's performance and Mesquite's win over Gilbert reiterated his statement "the game for us is never out of reach" following the Wildcats' second-half surgence in their seasonopening 46-40 loss to Peoria Sunrise Mountain.