TRUSSVILLE – Just two plays into the game, Thompson Warriors quarterback Trent Seaborn saw an opening up the middle and let it fly toward midfield. The perfect lob fell into Dedrick Kimbrough's hands, and his speed was too much for the Hewitt-Trussville Huskies to catch him.
That 90-yard touchdown was one of the most explosive plays in a season full of them for Thompson, and the 47-17 win over Hewitt that followed on Thursday, Oct. 8 at Hewitt-Trussville Stadium was one of the biggest statement wins in a season full of them.
Seaborn finished with a big statline as well–19-for-24 for 351 yards and three touchdowns, and that was complemented by a big finish on defense, led by Cam Pritchett's 15 tackles, three tackles for loss, three hurries and two pass breakups.
"I thought we did very well," Seaborn said of the offense. "We took care of the ball, scored every drive. I felt like we had very explosive plays, run game and pass game, I felt was both hand in hand. We did a very good job on the ground and the air as well. And that's just, like I said, credit to my o-line, my running backs, my receivers, and also the coaches as well."
Hewitt opted to take the ball first, and after the Huskies briefly found free space near midfield, the Warriors held them there for the punt. While the kick went back to the 8-yard line, it was no problem for Trent Seaborn, who aired it out up the middle to Dedrick Kimbrough at midfield, who took care of the rest. The 90-yard bomb put Thompson up 7-0 with 8:14 left in the first.
The Huskies blazed a trail on the ground on the ensuing drive, getting inside the red zone on a 17-yard Jack Floyd keeper before he scampered up the middle and overcame a stumble for an 18-yard touchdown, tying the game at 7-7 with 4:37 left in the first.
The Warriors got yards at will over the next drive, starting off with a 28-yard run from CJ Cowley and then getting on the door step with a jet sweep to Darion Moseley. He went down at the 4-yard line, and Cowley hit the right edge of the line on the next play for the 14-7 lead with 2:22 left.
Hewitt got a big return to its 40-yard line and looked to find a groove with the no huddle inside the red zone as the first quarter ran out. However, Thompson looked like a new team out of the timeout, and Cam Pritchett led a renewed pass rush to force a fourth down inside the 5-yard line. A false start sent the Huskies kicker out for a 24-yard field goal to cut the gap to 14-10.
Hewitt tried to regain momentum with an onside kick, but Thompson recovered it and capitalized on the midfield starting position. Seaborn eventually went over the middle to Moseley for a 32-yard catch and run for the 21-10 lead with 8:12 left in the second.The Warriors got a quick stop afterwards and got a drive kickstarted with a couple of penalties on Hewitt. Cowley eventually capped it with a short scoring run for his second of the half, taking the lead to 28-10.
The Huskies then worked their way to midfield before tempers started to flair, and Thompson was called for five personal fouls over the course of the drive. That significantly boosted the Hewitt offense to set up a 1-yard Floyd punch-in and cut the gap to 28-17 with 42 seconds left.
Thompson coach Mark Freeman said he ripped into his players at halftime for the personal fouls and promised to fix the mistakes this week in practice.
"We're very undisciplined out there, and so we're just going to be a tough week with my kids, because we don't represent, that side of the ball, (it's) not representing how we should be," Freeman said. "And the penalties, a couple of them may have been questionable, but when you get those personal fouls, a good football team don't do that. And you know what? Hopefully, they'll learn. And I promise you, this week they'll learn about the personal fouls."
With two timeouts in his pocket, it proved to be enough time for Seaborn to get downfield. He hit Moseley for a big first down on the sideline at the 27-yard line, and an end zone heave resulted in defensive pass interference as time expired. Ethan Maxwell then drained a 31-yard field goal to send Thompson into the break up 31-17, and crucially, with the ball to start the third.
The rout resumed once the game did, with Cowley scampering to midfield ahead of a 32-yard bomb to Tanner Ehmen at the 4-yard line. Latrell Sanders burst through the edge for the rushing touchdown and the 37-17 lead ahead of a missed extra point.
The Warriors turned up the defensive pressure in the second half as the pass rush got home and contained Floyd, leading to a shutout second half for the visiting defense.
Thompson got a short field on the ensuing punt and quickly worked downfield ahead of Rome Bell's blazing catch-and-run on the left side for the 27-yard touchdown. That put the Warriors up 44-17 with 6:06 left in the third.
Thompson added in a 28-yard field goal from Maxwell after Hewitt's first stop of the night with 1:17 left in the third, and the 47-17 lead held thanks to a solid finish from the Warriors defense.
Kimbrough was Seaborn's top receiver, hauling in four catches for 113 yards, boosted by the 90-yard opening score. Moseley finished with five catches for 93 yards and a score, and Ehmen had four catches for 73 yards.
The Warriors totaled 152 yards on the ground, with Cowley leading the way thanks to seven carries for 81 yards and two touchdowns as well as Sanders' 41 yards and a touchdown off four touches.
In all, Thompson outgained Hewitt with 536 yards of total offense to 265 yards, with much of that thanks to the defense limiting Floyd to 189 all-purpose yards for the game after his blazing start.
Pritchett's monster game was paired with seven tackles for fresh SMU commit Eli King as well as Micah Fleming, Junior Tu'upo and Terry Robinson. Ja'marion Johnson and Wes Gover each finished with five tackles, and Conner Williams broke up two passes.
Freeman tipped his cap to Floyd after the game and called him "one of the most impactful players he's ever coached against." It took players like Pritchett to contain him, and Freeman harped on the Oregon commit's leadership after the break.
"I got on them really bad at halftime about the personal fouls and unsportsmanlike and the stupid stuff you don't do, and second half, Cam came out, he was a leader," Freeman said of Pritchett, who had 12 tackles in the first half alone. "Cam didn't get none of those penalties. Cam was a senior leader, and we got to have about five more like that."
Now, the Warriors will head back to Alabaster for a clash of undefeated teams with the No. 3 Prattville Lions on Oct. 16 at Warrior Stadium. The two teams have been building to the matchup since the start of the season, and the winner will be the prohibitive favorite to claim the Class 6A, Region 3 title.
Like every week though, Freeman plans to focus on getting themselves ready to play their best and let the results take care of themselves as they build momentum for the playoffs.
"It's Prattville to y'all," Freeman said. "It's about us, and we've got to get ourselves better, not for next week, but for down the road. Next week will be on its own. It's a region game, and we'll see some of these region teams again. So, you got to take these things collectively. We'll have a good week. We'll be ready to play."
