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The Thompson Warriors ended the regular season with a dominant win over Prattville on Friday, Oct. 25 thanks to a big offensive showing in a 42-7 win. (For the Reporter/Jason Homan)

By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Publisher

ALABASTER – The Thompson Warriors saved their best offensive performance of the season for the regular-season finale on Friday, Oct. 25, putting on a show on senior night.

The Warriors racked up nearly 400 yards of offense in the first half to jolt out to a 35-0 lead, with the pass game stringing together big play after big play en route to a 42-7 win.

“I saw the defense get off the field on third down, I saw the offense convert on first down better. It’s all the things we work on,” Thompson head coach mark Freeman said of the team effort after the win. “You go back to the tree losses, we didn’t have good first down calls, I take the blame for that, we didn’t get off the field on defense, I take the blame for that. But we fixed them this week and I give them the credit for that. It was a great team effort tonight.”

Thompson’s offense failed to score on just two drives in the opening half, with one being a fumble after a first-down catch and the other an official missing a long touchdown catch while reaching for his flag to call pass interference.

Other than that, the Warriors were perfect, while the defense gave up just one first down in the half to help Thompson build up the 35-0 lead.

Thompson quarterback Trent Seaborn got several receivers involved throughout and did so early, including a strong opening drive that led to a quick touchdown pass to Darion Moseley for a 7-0 lead in the first four minutes of the game.

That was followed by a Mike Dujon touchdown shortly after, as the running back put together back-to-back strong plays, capped off by a 1-yard touchdown run that made it 14-0 late in the first quarter.

Prattville’s game plan was to eat clock in the opening half to try and limit the Thompson offensive chances, but the Lions couldn’t get first downs, which kept giving the ball back to the Warriors’ offense, while limiting time for the Prattville offense.

The Warriors quickly went up 21-0 early in the second quarter. After converting a couple of third downs, they put together a third-and-goal touchdown strike from Seaborn to Angel Jones with 7:49 left in the second quarter.

After another three-and-out from Prattville, Seaborn went right back to work and eventually hit Moseley for an 11-yard strike to make it 28-0 with 4:51 remaining in the half.

The two then connected again on the next offensive drive with a 59-yard touchdown pass that made it 35-0 with 2:38 left.

Thompson got the ball back one last time in the half, and looked to have long touchdown pass to Pryce Lewis through a defensive pass interference, but the official didn’t watch the catch, leaving the score at 35-0 going into the break.

Seaborn had 360 passing yards and four touchdowns at the half, while Moseley had 131 yards and three scores in the half.

Thompson picked up right where it left off in the first half with a quick seven-play, 80-yard drive to start the second half.

This time, the strong drive was capped off by a short touchdown pass from Seaborn to Gabe Binion to complete Thompson’s scoring in the dominant effort as a running clock forced a quick second half.

Prattville went on to finish with three total first downs in the game, as a late big play down the sideline led to their lone score on a 1-yard touchdown plunge in the final quarter.

The Warriors outgained Prattville 485-92 in the win.

Seaborn finished 23-32 for 368 yards and five touchdowns, resting much of the second half.

Moseley finished with his seven receptions for 131 yards and three scores, while RJ Evans totaled 123 receiving yards and an additional 64 rushing yards. Brooks Byars also had a nice game, finishing with 91 receiving yards on five receptions in a trustworthy performance.

“The season isn’t hard to understand. The three losses, the other team took the ball and drove it, ate up a lot of the quarter,” Freeman said. “All three losses. Nine snaps in one half of one game, 14 snaps in another. The defense has to get off the field and we have to be better on first down calls, and when we do that, we’re not bad. These guys have gotten better each week, and I think tonight, we cleaned up a lot.”

Now, Thompson will shift focus to the postseason following a bye week, as the Warriors will welcome Daphne to Alabaster to open the playoffs ahead of a hopeful postseason run toward another championship appearance.

“We competed against some good teams. The Lord has a plan and it’s our job to follow that plan,” Freeman said. “It rips your heart out that these kids have lost three games by one point, but, at the end of the day, the season starts at 10 p.m. tonight. We have to get our mind focused on what’s coming up. I’m tickled, I’m blessed, and I’m looking forward to the playoffs.”

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