BRYAN MULLEN - Staff Writer

MURFREESBORO — Dave Thomas shares the same name as the late founder of the Wendy’s fast food chain. And last night, the Riverdale quarterback was Biggie-Sized.

The Riverdale quarterback did a bit of everything to lead his team past visiting Smyrna 20-7 in a Region 4-5A matchup. The 5-foot-11, 167-pound junior threw a touchdown pass, ran for a score, returned a punt for a touchdown and picked off a pass.

And that was just in the first half.

Turns out that’s all Riverdale (2-0, 1-0) needed because neither team scored in the second half.

“I really wasn’t thinking about anything out there, just trying to have fun,” said Thomas, who was 3-of-7 for 101 yards. “I go into another mode for big games and try to block everything out.”

The talk entering the matchup wasn’t Riverdale’s quarterback, it was standout Smyrna quarterback David Wolke, whom many regard as the top QB in the Midstate. Wolke, who has offers from Ole Miss, Michigan and Nebraska, was constantly pressured by the Warriors defense and never appeared to settle in. He went 12-of-26 for 186 yards, including a touchdown and an interception.

“We can’t go out and expect to win a game because of the football team we think we have,” Wolke said. “They just played harder than us.”

It looked as if Riverdale was going to pull away early due to several Smyrna miscues.

Three minutes after a Wolke fumble on the Bulldogs’ second play from scrimmage, Thomas opened the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown dive.

Smyrna (1-1, 0-1) lost another fumble on the ensuing series, but its defense refused to let the Warriors turn this turnover into points as the first quarter ended.

But it took Riverdale only about five more minutes to get back on the scoreboard. Thomas struck again, this time returning a punt 41 yards to give Riverdale a 14-0 lead with 9:30 remaining in the first half.

But as things began to look downright bleak for Smyrna, the Bulldogs faithful got the boost they were looking for.

Wolke opened the next series by finding Charles Orona for a 56-yard touchdown pass, and it didn’t come on a long pass. Orona caught the short Wolke delivery, ran all over the field picking up several blocks — most notably by Marsealous Johnson who took out two would-be tacklers — and found the end zone to cut the Riverdale lead to 14-7.

“I think we did a good job in the first half,” Riverdale Coach Gary Rankin said. “Our defense did very well. When you can hold that team to one touchdown, you’re doing a good job.”

The remainder of the first half was full of mistakes and missed opportunities. Riverdale lost a fumble with 2:21 remaining in the half, but Wolke responded by tossing an interception to Thomas on the next play.

Riverdale did manage a late first-half score, when Thomas found Rahmel Oliver for a 32-yard touchdown pass to take a 20-7 halftime lead.