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The Thompson Warriors ran for 257 yards in the first half to build an insurmountable lead against Oak Mountain in a 67-7 road win to remain perfect in region play. (For the Reporter/Barry Clemmons)

By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor

NORTH SHELBY – From the opening whistle, the Thompson Warriors never saw their perfect region record threatened, scoring 21 points in the first three minutes of a road matchup with Oak Mountain before pulling away for a 67-7 victory.

The Warriors scored 48 points in the first half behind 257 rushing yards to create the early separation before adding on 19 points in the second half to pull away.

“They did a great job. It was a great week of practice,” Thompson head coach Mark Freeman said after the win. “We’ve had two really good weeks of practice back-to-back. We obviously played well last week and played well again this week.”

Thompson improved to 6-1 overall and 5-0 in region play, while the Warriors moved to within one win of claiming the region championship.

The Warriors started fast with AJ Green scoring the first of two first-half touchdowns in two plays on the opening drive of the game. Starting at the 20-yard line, he ran for 19 yards and then 61 yards in two plays to give Thompson a 7-0 advantage 22 seconds into the game.

Shortly after, Thompson got the ball back with a short field and quarterback Trent Seaborn hit receiver Angel Jones for 33 yards and another score to make it 14-0 quickly.

Then, on the ensuing Oak Mountain drive, the Warriors got their third touchdown of the night when Kaleb Harris recovered a fumble and returned it 17 yards to the end zone for another score and 21 points in the first three minutes of the game.

That became score at the end of the opening quarter, but the Warriors quickly added a score in the first six seconds of the second quarter when Zach Sims hit Colben Landrew for a 17-yard strike and score to increase the lead to 28-0.

The Warriors continued adding on with two more scores on the ground to extend the lead to 42-0 thanks to a 19-yard touchdown run from Mike Dujon and 59-yard run from Green.

Oak Mountain’s only answer of the half came on a nice ensuing drive when Le’Kamren Meadows fought 12 yards for a touchdown run that trimmed the deficit to 42-7.

Thompson, however, got the ball back and went to work in the two-minute drill. The Warriors eventually scored on another Dujon touchdown run from 31 yards out with four seconds left in the half to create a 48-0 halftime lead.

In the second half, with a running clock, Thompson scored three more touchdowns with Brooks Byars connecting on a 42-yard touchdown pass to Pryce Lewis, then connecting with Jones for a 35-yard touchdown pass before the Warriors closed the scoring on a 16-yard touchdown run from R.J. Evans.

“We’ve been concentrating on ourselves. Did we get better today, regardless of who we are playing,” Freeman said. “We had a great week of practice and tonight, we got to play a lot of guys and I think they played with excitement. We’re blessed to have a great bunch of kids and great coaches.”

Thompson ran the ball for 288 yards with Green leading the way thanks to 173 yards on seven carries with two touchdowns. Dujon added 71 yards on nine carries and tacked on two more scores.

Seaborn finished 2-of-5 for 43 yards and a touchdown, while Sims added a touchdown pass on 4-of-4 passing for 39 yards. Byars led all quarterbacks with 77 yards and two touchdowns. Jones finished as the leading receiver with 78 yards and two touchdowns, while Lewis added 48 yards and one score.

Will O’Dell finished with 74 yards on 9-of-14 passing for Oak Mountain and added 21 yards rushing on 10 carries. The Eagles finished with 107 yards of offense and had three turnovers, all fumbles, in the loss.

Thompson will now face Tuscaloosa County at home on Oct. 20 with a win locking up the region championship, while Oak Mountain will travel to Vestavia Hills.

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