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The Thompson Warriors took down Enterprise on Friday, Nov. 22 to advance to their seventh consecutive Class 7A State Championship game on Wednesday, Dec. 4. (For the Reporter/Jeremy Raines)

By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Publisher

ALABASTER – With the Thompson defense facing a third-and-11 against Enterprise in the semifinals of the Class 7A playoffs on Friday, Nov. 22, the Warriors knew they had to step up and make a play in what was a slugfest of a start on the coldest night of the season.

Enter Cam Pritchett. With the visiting Wildcats backed up deep in their own territory, Pritchett sprinted around the end, wrapped his arms around quarterback Mason Burkhardt as he prepared to throw and ripped down to strip the ball away in the end zone. Trent Cheatom then fell on the ball for a Thompson touchdown to give the Warriors a defensive score and a 10-0 lead with 3:49 left in the first half.

That moment flipped the momentum in favor of the Warriors as they came out and started the second half with a touchdown as well, building a 17-0 lead that became insurmountable with a suffocating defensive effort en route to a 31-7 victory that cemented the Warriors’ seventh consecutive trip to the Class 7A State Championship.

“We may not have had as many plays on offense in the first half, but our defense came out and made some crucial plays in the first half,” Thompson quarterback Trent Seaborn said. “That touchdown they had put us up two scores to nothing. We knew as an offense, we just couldn’t turn the ball over at that point.”

And they did not turn it over, while the offense scored 21 points in a much more consistent second half that helped Thompson earn a spot in the championship after a season full of adversity, including three losses by one point in overtime.

“At the end of the day, I thank the Lord for where this team is,” head coach Mark Freeman said after the win. “It’s been an unusual year and unusual journey, but I just thank God. It’s a weird team as far as the things we have gone through, I don’t understand, but I know those three games we lost by are coming back to help us right now.”

Freeman and Seaborn both hinted at the growth of the team and their ability to learn lessons and fight through adversity as to reasons why they are where they are, which has them enjoying the journey to another championship appearance.

“We have maybe the best kids we’ve had in our life here,” Freeman said. “I’m just proud of the way they have worked their way through it all. The coaches have done a great job. The things we went through this year were part of their life to learn and persevere through things. Don’t let people talk to you and tell you that you’re the one that will let everyone down, because honestly, they’re not. They work and it’s a testimony they’ll take with them the rest of their lives. We will be ready to play in that state championship game.”

The team’s growth was on display against the Wildcats as well in a game that was featured weird moments, including a first half that saw Enterprise controlling the clock and limiting Thompson’s opportunities.

The Warriors, however, were able to capitalize on two big plays to take the lead into the half, while Enterprise never could capitalize on their clock-churning drives.

Thompson’s scoring started on their second drive of the night when Seaborn hit Darion Moseley on a crossing route for what ended up being a 60-yard gain to set up first and goal.

Thompson got it all the way to the 3-yard line, but a false start pushed the Warriors back on third-and-goal, leading to a John Alan McGuire field goal to make it 3-0 early in the second quarter.

Then, after the two teams traded punts on the next two drives, Thompson was able to pin the Wildcats deep in their own territory for the second drive in a row.

This time, the defense capitalized when Pritchett beat his man for the strip sack in the end zone recovered by Cheatom for a 10-0 lead that was carried into the halftime break.

The offense knew then knew they had to capitalize on that defensive score by adding a score of their own to start the second half, and that’s exactly what they did.

Thompson strung together several big plays, capitalizing on a pass interference and runs of 15 and 17 yards from Mike Dujon and RJ Evans, respectively, to set up a wildcat handoff from Dujon to Evans for the short score that made it 17-0.

“Second half, we knew we had to come out and score that first drive and that’s what we did,” Seaborn said. “That gave us momentum for that better second half.”

Enterprise responded in a big way by returning the ensuing kickoff to the house to cut the deficit back to 10 points, but they Wildcats couldn’t find the end zone the rest of the night after that.

Meanwhile, Thompson marched right back down the field with another consistent drive that was capped off by a beautiful touchdown pass from Seaborn to Moseley on third-and-goal from the 12 that put the Warriors on top 24-7 late in the third quarter.

Thompson’s defense didn’t allow the Wildcats to score the rest of the way, while an interception from Anquon Fegans setup the knockout blow as the offense capitalized with a long drive that ended with another Seaborn pass to Moseley for the 31-7 win.

“We have so many young guys coming up, so many guys discovering themselves, finding out who they are meant to be,” Seaborn said of the growth of this year’s offense. “Throughout the whole season, we’ve been developing. We don’t listen to all of the outside noise, all the rat poison, we’ve just been developing internally as a team. We’ve become a strong brotherhood and have gotten so much better the last half of the season and in the postseason. Same for the defense. It’s just great to see the improvement and growth for the entire team.”

Seaborn finished the game 15-22 for 143 yards and two touchdowns, while Moseley was on the receiving end of both touchdowns and 106 of those yards. Dujon and Evans both had 13 carries with Dujon totaling 77 yards despite a 91-yard touchdown being called back and Evans totaling 65 yards.

Freeman said the team has unfinished business after last year’s championship loss to Central-Phenix City by a final score of 21-19 and can’t wait for another opportunity to meet one of the best teams in the state.

“It’s tremendous growth and satisfaction to them to get to a championship after the year we’ve had,” Freeman said. “I know they’re satisfied and happy, but it has to go away in the next 48 hours. I talked with Pat a while ago and our goal was for both of us to try and get back there. I thank God for the journey to make it happen. It’s been a tough year, but the dividends are worth everything.”

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