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The Thompson Warriors brought the heat on both ends of the field in a dominant shutout win against Daphne, setting up a second-round showdown with Auburn High School. (For the Reporter/Markee Canada)

By NIC YOUNG | Special to the Reporter

ALABASTER – The Thompson Warriors will continue their playoff journey following a dominating 50-0 victory over the Daphne Trojans on Nov. 8. The Warriors dominated every aspect of this game to punch their ticket to the next round of the 7A playoffs.

“I told the kids that we need to find out who we are this week and let’s go play football.”  Thompson head coach Mark Freeman said. “I’m proud of the players. We had a great week of practice that carried over. Now we have to do it again. We play a really good football team next week.”

The Thompson defense got off to a solid start. Defensive lineman Jared Smith brought down the quarterback for a sack on third down to force Daphne to punt following a brief possession.

That opened the door for the Warriors’ offense to get to work.

Thompson reached the Daphne 29-yard line before facing fourth down. The Warriors decided to take the gamble and go for it. Quarterback Trent Seaborn used his legs to pick up the first down with ease, and a late hit penalty against Daphne pushed Thompson up to the 6-yard line.

Running back Mike Dujon took it from there and punched the score in to give the Warriors a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter.

The Thompson defense held strong and forced the Trojans into a three-and-out series.

Beginning their next drive at midfield, the Warriors offense cruised down the field to the Daphne 4-yard line. Penalties stalled the drive out before Thompson settled for three points to add to their lead at 10-0.

The Warriors defense came up big on the following Daphne possession and forced the Trojans to cough up the ball. Kevin Davis scooped up the ball and willed himself toward the end zone to make Thompson’s lead 17-0.

After yet another quick possession by Daphne, the Warriors offense was getting in tune. Wide receiver Darion Moseley played an integral part of the drive, accounting for 60 yards including a 23-yard score to extend Thompson’s lead to 24-0 midway through the second quarter.

The Warriors defensive unit continued to hold the line, getting the Daphne offense off the field in three plays on the ensuing drive.

The Thompson offense continued to roll and pieced together a lengthy drive. The Warriors made it to around midfield before it appeared that the offense was stalling out. However, Seaborn came up big, finding Pryce Lewis for a 33-yard gain to keep the drive alive.

A few plays later, the drive was on the ropes again. On fourth down, Seaborn delivered a strike to Moseley to wrap up the offensive possession with a touchdown and put Thompson up 27-0 with four minutes left in the half.

Two minutes later, the Warriors had possession again and had no issues moving the ball down the field. Dujon capped the drive off with a 2-yard run for his second score of the night to give Thompson a comfortable 34-0 lead going into halftime.

The Warriors offense remained on fire to start the second half, with Seaborn finding Moseley for an explosive 46-yard touchdown to add to their total and make the score 41-0 early in the third quarter.

The theme of the Trojans offense remained the same as they punted after a three-play possession again.

On the next drive, it seemed like business as usual for the Thompson offense, moving the ball from their 42-yard line to the Daphne 4-yard line seemingly at will. Though a score looked likely, the Trojan defense stood tall and forced the Warriors to turn the ball over on downs.

This Daphne defensive victory was short-lived, however, as Thompson brought down the quarterback in the end zone for a safety to up their lead to 43-0 midway through the third quarter.

The Warriors would use their next possession to put an exclamation point on their performance, concluding the drive with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Brooks Byars to Dalton Willis to give Thompson an overwhelming 50-0 lead. From there, the Daphne offense could not generate a spark, spending the remainder of the game exchanging possessions with the Warriors to seal the shutout win.

Seaborn finished the night with 241 passing yards and two touchdowns. Dujon had 65 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries. Moseley caught seven passes for 108 yards and two touchdowns. Lewis had six receptions for 106 yards.

After the game, Freeman was proud of his team’s effort in the win as the challenges begin to ramp up in Thompson’s quest for a state title.

“(The win) gives us some confidence,” Freeman said. “We played good, there are a couple of things to fix, but the kids played good. Their intensity was different tonight. They know it’s playoff season. So, we got to have a great week and get ready to go play football next week.”

The Warriors will take on Auburn High School next week on Nov. 15 in the second round, a rematch of the 2022 7A state championship game.

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