NORTH SHELBY — The Thompson Warriors arrived to take on the Oak Mountain Eagles with a fire lit inside them Friday, Oct. 23.
The intensity was evident immediately as the Warriors came out physical and forced Oak Mountain into a three-and-out to start the game. From there, it was the Trent Seaborn show.
Seaborn completed six straight passes to march the Warriors down the field and take an early lead. The drive was capped by a 13-yard pass to Darion Moseley, who juked a defender and fought through contact to reach the end zone.
The Eagles picked up their first first down of the game on the ensuing drive, but a wild throw on fourth down led to a Junior Tuupo interception, which he returned to the Eagles' 25-yard line. Tuupo's number buddy, Jafari Pegues, got the ball to start the Warriors' drive and took it 24 yards before being brought down at the Oak Mountain 1-yard line.
Thompson picked up a false start on the next play, but the extra five yards meant nothing in the end as Seaborn called his own number and ran for a 6-yard touchdown. The Warriors took a 13-0 lead after a missed PAT.
Oak Mountain leaned on senior running back Kentrell Tolbert on its next drive as he carried the ball five times during the nine-play possession. To Thompson's surprise, the Eagles faked a punt on fourth down, but the throw was off target, and the Warriors took over at their own 44-yard line.
Thompson's third drive started shakily with two false starts before a 14-yard pass and a pass interference penalty moved the Warriors to the Oak Mountain 36-yard line. Seaborn called his own number again and ran for a 36-yard touchdown before hitting Moseley for the two-point conversion to give Thompson a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Another Oak Mountain three-and-out gave the Warriors the ball back at their own 40-yard line, and they once again wasted no time. Seaborn completed four straight passes, three to Dedrick Kimbrough, to move easily down the field.
The drive ended with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Seaborn to Kimbrough, making it 28-0 with just over six minutes left in the first half.
The Eagles once again failed to get anything going on their fifth drive and were forced to punt. Starting at the Thompson 22-yard line, Seaborn missed his first pass of the night.
However, he remained unfazed, completing three straight passes, including a 52-yard strike to Moseley, to give Thompson a 35-0 lead with fewer than three minutes left in the half. Moseley finished with eight catches for 163 yards and two touchdowns.
Thompson thought it had gone up 42-0 after what appeared to be a scoop-and-score on the ensuing drive. However, Oak Mountain quarterback Charlie Vacarella was ruled down before the ball came loose.
The Warriors' momentum continued into the second half as they put together an eight-play drive that ended with backup quarterback Jahari Nation hitting RJ Addison for an 8-yard touchdown. The successful extra point made it 42-0 with just over eight minutes left in the third quarter.
The Eagles' next possession was also their last and most successful. Oak Mountain once again turned heavily to Tolbert, who carried the ball on nine of the drive's 14 plays.
Although Tolbert helped extend the possession multiple times, the drive ended with a sack on fourth down, giving Thompson the ball back with nine minutes left in the game.
Thompson ended the game with a nine-play drive that included four penalties and consumed the remaining nine minutes to secure a 42-0 victory.
The win propelled the Warriors to the No. 2 seed in the playoffs as they look to make another run at a state title. Head coach Mark Freeman was proud of the bounce-back win but voiced concern about how the team approached the season.
"It's great to end on a positive note," he said. "I thought they had a great week of practice, intensity was great, the focus was great and they responded like champions do. And it's like I told them, we're in a dangerous spot here.
"We've had several years doing really well in the playoffs, going to the state championship, and I think they almost play the season like they're getting ready for the playoffs. I mean, that's a dangerous place to be at but usually when the playoffs get here they kick it into another gear and we come through with good football."
Seaborn finished with 19 completions on 21 attempts for 307 yards and five total touchdowns, an impressive performance after throwing four interceptions against Prattville.
"That just wasn't the performance I had wanted," he said. "What I really needed to do was just go back to my roots and my faith. That's really what helped me get through this whole week, just staying strong, putting my faith in God and knowing he has a plan for me and all of us."
The Warriors now head into two full weeks off after their game against Choctawhatchee was canceled. According to Seaborn, although he wanted to play the final regular-season game, the extra time will help ensure the team returns at its best.
"It's good to finish strong like that but I wish we had one more game," Seaborn said. "But, it's good momentum going into the playoffs and now we've got two weeks for all our guys to get back healthy."
