By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

The new Thompson High School football coach said he was pleased with the progress his team has made in a short amount of time following the team’s spring scrimmage against Sylacauga.

The Warriors split the two-part scrimmage with the Sylacauga Aggies, losing 24-7 in the first half of the game and winning 14-0 in the second. The first half featured both teams’ starting players, and the second half, which only included the third quarter, featured both teams’ backup squads.

“I saw a lot of progress tonight. There’s a lot we can build on. We’ve got a lot of little things we need to work on,” said new THS football coach Caleb Ross. “This summer is going to be critical.

“If we want to be a great program, we’ve got to put in the time,” Ross added. “We only had eight days of practice, so I wasn’t expecting it to be an overnight thing. It’s a process.”

In the first half of the game, the Aggies scored on their first possession on a 4-yard touchdown run with 10:30 left in the first quarter. Two possessions later, Sylacauga struck again on a 38-yard run into the end zone. A pair of successful point-after-touchdown attempts brought the game to 14-0.

But Thompson lit up the scoreboard when Eric Reeves reeled in a 23-yard touchdown pass. Matt Nall’s extra point brought the game to 14-7.

On the next series, a pass interference call against Thompson set up a Sylacauga field goal to put the Aggies ahead 17-7.

The Aggies’ final score came on an 11-yard touchdown run. The extra point brought the final score to 24-7 at halftime.

Game officials cleared the scoreboard after halftime, allowing both teams’ backup squads to start from scratch.

Midway through the third quarter, junior running back Devante Smith powered into the end zone from 2 yards out. Nall’s extra point put the Warriors ahead 7-0.

On Thompson’s next possession, sophomore running back Jake Walters recorded a 7-yard touchdown run to put the Warriors up 14-0 to end the second half of the game.