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By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor

ALABASTER – It’s no secret the threat that Thompson’s defenses will pose to opponents during the 2020 football season, and during the week of July 13, it got a little more daunting when three of the Warriors’ defenders were tabbed as national preseason All-Americans by MaxPreps.

Alabama commit and junior linebacker/edge rusher Jeremiah Alexander earned a spot on the 2020 MaxPreps Preseason All-American Junior Team, while sophomores Tony Mitchell and Peter Woods were recognized on the All-American Sophomore Team.

While Alexander has already committed verbally to the Crimson Tide, Mitchell and Woods both have offers from most major Division I colleges as well going into their sophomore seasons.

Alexander, who stands at 6-foot-2, 230 pounds, has been a dominant presence for the Warriors in his first two years of high school football, totaling 192 tackles, 41 tackles for loss and 14.5 sacks.

As a freshman, he totaled 74 tackles, 16 tackles for loss and six sacks. That led into a remarkable sophomore season that saw the edge rusher spend plenty of time in the backfield with 25 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks. Alexander also totaled 118 tackles last year while adding two interceptions and two fumble recoveries.

The combination of his production and size with even more room to grow has made him one of the most coveted recruits in the country.

He’s now ranked eighth overall in the ESPN 300 and 10th overall by 247sports for the Class of 2022 as a four star. He’s also considered the top prospect in the state of Alabama.

As a junior All-American first teamer, Alexander is considered one of the 13 best defenders in the country by MaxPreps going into the season and one of the four best linebackers.

He also played a key role in Thompson’s first state championship since 1982 and second in school history by totaling eight tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, one sack and a forced fumble to help the Warriors pick up a 40-14 win over Central-Phenix City.

As for Woods and Mitchell, they’re equally as key to this year’s defense playing at two other levels on that side of the ball.

Woods will be a returning defensive lineman and already boasts a size of approximately 6-foot-4, 250 pounds. During his freshman season, Woods racked up 56 total tackles, 15 tackles for loss and seven sacks.

Woods has offers from 29 power five schools, including 13 of the 14 SEC schools with Missouri being the only one not to offer so far.

Mitchell is a great cover corner with range that allowed very little to his side of the field last year, posting 67 total tackles, five tackles for loss, one interception and one fumble recovery.

He has offers from 18 power five schools, including 10 of the 14 SEC schools. So far, Auburn, Arkansas, Missouri and Vanderbilt have not offered.

In addition to those three national All-Americans, two additional players have been named to the MaxPreps All-State preseason team in Sam Reynolds and Gavin Shipman.

Shipman is a second team defender on the state list due to his five interceptions on defense last year, while Reynolds, a South Carolina commit, is possibly the best athlete on the team and will line up all over the offense and possibly in the secondary on defense.