GLOUSTER — It was about as close a football contest that anyone could have asked for through three quarters of play, but ultimately the Trimble Tomcats ran away with things down the stretch Friday night during a 28-7 victory over visiting Eastern in the Tri-Valley Conference Hocking Division opener for both clubs at Tomcat Stadium in Athens County.

The Tomcats (2-4, 1-0 TVC Hocking) led 6-0 at halftime and took a 14-7 advantage into the finale against the Eagles (3-3, 0-1), but a pair of fourth quarter rushing scores ultimately allowed the hosts to break away and claim the 21-point decision.

THS churned out 333 yards of total offense in the triumph, all of which came through the rushing attack on 44 carries — an average of over 7.5 yards per carry. Running back Tyler Dyla — who had two key second half scoring runs for the hosts — led that vaunted ground game with 263 yards on 25 totes.

The Eagles — who had 250 total yards of offense — mustered 117 rushing yards on 29 attempts while accumulating another 133 yards through the air. EHS had one more first down (13-12) than the Tomcats, but also had one more turnover (2-1) than the victors.

Both teams went scoreless in the first quarter, and only Trimble’s Justin Jewell managed to find the endzone in the first half after a one-yard run at 4:31 of the second canto gave the hosts a slim 6-0 edge headed into the intermission.

The Eagles took their only lead of the night on the opening drive of the second half, as Mike Johnson hauled in a three-yard pass from Brayden Pratt at 6:03 of the third for a 7-6 advantage.

That lead, however, was short-lived as the hosts turned to Dyla — an All-Ohio running back selection just a season ago. Dyla broke an 11-yard run to paydirt with 1:27 left in the third, giving Trimble a 14-7 edge heading into the finale.

Dyla struck again early in the fourth, scampering 49 yards to paydirt at the 10:47 mark for a 20-7 THS cushion. Johnny Stobart added a one-yard scoring run for the hosts with 1:57 left in regulation, rounding out the scoring at 28-7.

Trimble, with the win, increased its current winning streak over EHS to nine consecutive games, dating back to the 2000 campaign. The Tomcats also improved to 20-4 alltime against the Eagles while snapping a two-game losing streak. The Green and White also dropped their second consecutive contest.

After Dyla, THS was led by Austin Keith with 35 rushing yards on 10 carries, while both Jewell and Nick Eing had matching efforts of six rushes for 16 yards. Jewell finished the night 0-for-5 passing with one interception.

Pratt led the Eagles with 49 rushing yards on 11 attempts, followed by Kelly Winebrenner with 47 yards on seven totes. Klint Connery also had 21 rushing yards on 11 carries.

Pratt finished the night 16-of-25 passing for 133 yards and a score, but also threw two interceptions. Kyle Connery led the wideouts with 53 yards on four receptions.

Eastern was penalized four times for 25 yards while THS was flagged twice for 10 yards.

The Eagles return to action Friday night when it hosts winless Federal Hocking in another TVC Hocking matchup at East Shade River Stadium. The kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.