PHENIX CITY – When Dedrick Kimbrough strutted into the end zone for the 34-14 lead late in the third quarter, it gave the Thompson Warriors a massive sense of déjà vu.
The last time the Warriors faced the Central Red Devils at Garrett-Harrison Stadium in Phenix City, they led 35-14 with nine minutes remaining. That lead evaporated to 35-34 in the final seconds, and it took a goal-line stop on a two-point conversion by Junior Tu'upo to stop Central from reaching the state title game.This time though, Thompson refused to let history repeat itself.
On the ensuing Red Devils drive, Micah Fleming read Bobby Coleman's pass perfectly and dove for the interception. The pick flipped the field ahead of a grinding drive on the ground, and CJ Cowley killed off the game with a touchdown for the 41-14 win on Thursday, Aug. 20.
"We were definitely on the sideline saying, 'Hey, same thing. In the same situation as last year. Let's not drop the ball,' and we didn't," Thompson quarterback Trent Seaborn said. "Defense did great. Offense did great. We played very smart second half, and we ended up with a better score than last year."
"It was a hard fought whatever points we had, they were all hard fought and earned, Thompson coach Mark Freeman said. "There was not anything easy. And they're a good football team. We knew that was going to be a good football team."
Both teams started their first drives with big plays as Central ripped a long run early and Trent Seaborn found Mason McClure for a deep ball at the 8-yard line for their first-ever connection.
However, both teams met adversity as Thompson stuffed a third down pass to force a short punt, and a bad snap on the ensuing Warriors drive forced a turnover on downs.
The game flipped when the Red Devils sent a punt short on the next drive. McClure and CJ Cowley got Thompson close before Seaborn dropped a dime to Tanner Ehmen in stride at the left pylon for the 7-0 lead with 1:09 left on the first.
The Warriors had a crucial error on the next drive though with a roughing the passer call to get Central near midfield. Bobby Coleman unleashed a deep pass to Braylen Averett on the next play, and the Red Devils eventually punched it in to tie the game at 7-7 with 9:57 left in the second.
Both teams exchanged punts on their next drives, but Zealand Danielson took Thompson's return inside the red zone. That set up Seaborn to hit Darion Moseley up over the middle, and the Arkansas commit ran to the left pylon to take a 14-7 lead.
However, Central responded in emphatic fashion with a 57-yard bomb over the top from Coleman to equalize at 14-14.
The Warriors had the last word of the half thanks to Cowley. He took a 31-yard pass up the sideline to spark the ensuing drive, and on a late fourth-and-long, Seaborn found him in stride for a 27-yard touchdown.
That put Thompson in control up 21-14 at the break with the ball to start the second half.
The Warriors made the most of their chance to effectively double up, milking the clock for a six-minute opening drive to the half. They struggled to get over the line inside the 10, leading to a fourth-and-goal from the 1, but Jafari Pegues punched it in on the last chance to extend the lead to 21-14.
The Red Devils had a crucial error on the next drive when they muffed the kickoff inside the 5, giving the Thompson gunners a chance to down it at the 7-yard line. That set up a three-and-out, and the Warriors capitalized on the next drive.
Seaborn went into a flow state, quickly working his way down the field to set up a ball over the top to Dedrick Kimbrough for the 34-yard touchdown and the 34-14 lead.
While it almost exactly mirrored Thompson's score from the semifinals, the Warriors slammed the door shut on any chance of a comeback. After the Red Devils got across midfield on a promising drive, Fleming snagged an interception for the game's first turnover with 2.4 seconds left in the third.
Thompson would milk the clock down to 5:43 to go, and Cowley capped the drive by finding the pylon for his first score in a Warriors uniform. That put Thompson up 41-14 and spelled the end for Central.
Seaborn had a statement game, going 18-for-27 for 331 yards and four touchdowns. McClure was his top receiver, catching four passes for a game-high 129 yards in his Warriors debut.
Cowley excelled on the ground and in the air, taking four catches for 90 yards and a touchdown and finishing with a joint-high 41 rushing yards and a touchdown with Pegues.
With the added boost of McClure, Cowley and an improved Ehmen, Seaborn couldn't stop raving about the weapons at his disposal.
"I can't put it lightly. This wide receiver corps is something else," Seaborn said. "It's something I never, ever really had before. And these guys, I've been working really hard with them over the whole offseason, and they've done an outstanding job. They do what they're supposed to. They're very coachable, and gosh, they're just amazing receivers as well. And they got after it tonight."
Defensively, Trent McCorvey led the way with seven tackles, including three solo and 0.5 sacks, Cam Pritchett earned five tackles and 0.5 sacks and Fleming and Kevin Davis each had four tackles, with Fleming adding an interception and 0.5 sacks.
After the game though, Freeman pointed out a couple areas of improvement even in the blowout.First, he pointed to multiple crucial penalties in the first half that either killed offensive drives or sparked Central drives, in particular the roughing the passer call that set up the first-quarter touchdown.
"You look at the score, and like I said, the score's gone, we won't remember the score after this, because the game's over, but we will remember the penalties that we committed," Freeman said. "We will remember one of our best players got just a late, bad hit. That extended the drive for a touchdown now. So, we talked about that and got that right at halftime."
He also pointed to the offensive line as a big area of improvement going forward. While both running backs combined for 82 yards and two scores, he said they were just a few steps away from a truly dominant game.
"We're not real good at offensive line right now," Freeman said. "We have to get better (on) offensive line. There's no, in this football, you have to be better. We have to run the football. So that's the thing we're going to work on. We might have to move some people. I mean, at this level, you got to run the football, and we were close. We were close to breaking some runs."
For now though, the Warriors can celebrate a 1-0 record going into their next test, the defending 6A champion Clay-Chalkville Cougars on Thursday, Aug. 27 at Warrior Stadium.
