8 October 2023
Thierry Tetevi is listed at 6-foot and 230 pounds. He looks and plays larger.
Be it barreling through tacklers as a running back, serving as a lead blocker or disrupting plays from his outside linebacker spot, Tetevi does a little bit of everything for Como Park.
The senior scored one of the Cougars’ three rushing touchdowns in a 28-14 homecoming win over Harding/Humboldt on Saturday afternoon.
“I got a big spirit. I got to use that on the field,” he said. “Whatever I’m doing I’m having fun with it. (Offense or defense) it doesn’t really matter to me.”
In addition to rushing for 57 yards, his defensive superlatives included wrapping up a quarterback after a dropped snap, numerous tackles for losses and at least a couple sacks.
On the inaugural Como Park drive, Tetevi had a powerful 17-yard run and then a 20-yard touchdown run on the next play. The final 10 yards came after he ran over a defensive back who’s 65 pounds lighter. Both carries came on inside handoffs.
“The first time I did it … I was like, ‘Oh shoot, I could really like jump over this kid’ and the coach gave me the opportunity to do it again. I was like, ‘Let me do it better this time,’ so I did that,” said Tetevi.
“One of the best kids I know,” said Como Park senior Matthew Corniea, who also plays both ways. “He brings the energy, the excitement, the fun, the boom. He’s always happy, always ready to be out there, brings the intensity.”
At one point in the second half with the crowd chanting “Let’s Go Como” followed by a couple claps, Tetevi joined in on the clapping while on the field waiting for the Knighthawks to come to the line of scrimmage.
Corniea and Ebisa Worika also had rushing scores for the Cougars. Worika and Vontae Williams connected on a 40-yard touchdown reception, followed by Corniea leaping and almost being horizontal to snag the 2-point conversion.
Como Park (3-3) started the season with three losses — two via shutout — but has scored 100 points in winning three straight.
Coach Kirby Scull, Tetevi and Corniea agree it’s mostly come down to players making the right play.
“The last three weeks our defense has really played well. We’ve created a lot of opportunities for our offense to get a 40-yard field,” Scull said. “Up front we’ve been playing a lot better, so we’ve been able to move people around. They’re big dudes, there’s four seniors. They’ve been moving people around and we’ve been able to find some nice fullback options.”
“It was just something inside that we needed to bring out,” added Corniea.
Como Park has not turned the ball over in three weeks. “The first three games, I think we had five every game,” Scull said.
Jeremiah Pierson scored twice and Julius Osgood had a pair of interceptions for Harding/Humboldt (0-6), which was playing without arguably its most athletic player in Ai’Jhon Douglas who’d been playing through a torn UCL in his thumb. The Knighthawks had five of their six fumbles in the first half, losing three.
“We’re really young, we got some talent, it’s just figuring out how to get them to come together,” said coach Andre Creighton.
In his second game as a running back, Pierson ran for a fourth-quarter score and caught a touchdown pass from freshman Tyshawn Sims on the game’s final play.
“We’re excited about him. We got to do some work to do to get him familiar with being a running back,” Creighton said.
Up by a score, Worika scored from the 3 early in the second quarter, and after a high snap to the Knighthawks’ punter led to a fumble, Corniea scored from the 11 following the block of Tetevi to make it 20-0.
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