Warriors Strike Early and Often in Road Blowout Win at Spain Park
This week, the Thompson Warriors had the need for speed.
After a hard fought region opener against Vestavia, the Warriors hit the road to play the Spain Park Jaguars and didn’t let off the gas pedal once they got there. Thompson scored in all three phases of the game before halftime, raced out to a huge lead and cruised to a 55-14 win, improving to 3-0 on the season.
The team had been plagued by slow starts in their first couple of contests and head coach Mark Freeman knew something had to change this week.
“We had to have a better week of practice,” said Freeman. “We didn’t practice good last Monday and Tuesday for some reason. This week, the whole emphasis from Sunday was we’re going to practice good. We had a great week. We came out tonight and played with energy. We didn’t play with any energy last week. So, we came out tonight, I think we created energy. The coaches did a good job of creating that in practice and the kids responded. I think we played pretty good tonight.”
That jolt of energy translated to explosive play after explosive play for the Warriors in the first half.
The offense needed just four snaps to score on their first drive any got things going with the run game. Senior running back AJ Green carried the load early with three rushes and capped the drive with a 15 yard touchdown run.
Thompson turned to the pass game next and struck lightning fast this time on a pass from Trent Seaborn to Deuce Oliver from 48 yards out for a 14-0 lead. The pinpoint accuracy of the Seaborn’s pass was only outdone by the agility of Oliver who stopped on a dime at the one sending a helpless defender flailing past him before he gingerly stepped across the goal line.
And the Warriors weren’t done in the first quarter. The defense forced two quick punts then a perfect punt pitted them against the Jaguar offense at the one yard line. Spain Park went to the air to try and get some breathing room, but senior safety Kaleb Harris took all the air out of Jaguar Stadium instead leaping in front of a pass and somersaulting into the end zone for a pick six. It’s Harris’ third interception in as many games to start the season.
With the stunned Jaguars unable to respond, another punt found its way to Deuce Oliver who had some more tricks up his sleeve. Eluding the first tackler, Oliver took advantage of great blocking downfield and gunned it 50 yards to the end zone for a 28-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Zach Sims entered the game at quarterback next and helmed a six minute, 99-yard drive to close the half. The run game ran the clock dry as Sims, Green and Michael Dujon drove the offense deep into the red zone. A one yard touchdown pass from Sims to Kolby Hearn gave Thompson a 34-0 lead they would take into halftime.
Sims would find two more targets in the third quarter to finish his night off. He fired a toss up to Colben Landrew for a 19-yard score 33 seconds into the half then sent Dalton Willis his first TD of the season three minutes later for an emphatic 48-0 lead.
Spain Park put together a couple of scoring drives, but Dujon put a cherry on top of the region win with a 14-yard TD run late in the third quarter.
Seaborn finished a perfect 10-10 passing for 102 yards and 2 TD. Deuce Oliver went for 60 yards on three receptions to lead the receivera. AJ Green polished off his second straight 100-yard game with 103 yards and a TD on just seven carries. Nearly joining him in the triple digit club was Dujon who piled up 97 yards and a TD on nine rushes.
Thompson (3-0, 2-0) will return home next and host the Chelsea Hornets for homecoming week. The game is set for Friday, Sept 22 at 7 p.m.
