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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

AUBURN – The Thompson Warriors are no strangers to the playoffs, but they are strangers to being underdogs going into a big matchup. That was the case as they prepared to face the undefeated, No. 1-ranked Auburn High School Tigers on the road at Duck Samford Stadium on Nov. 15.

However, when the final whistle blew, the Warriors left little doubt that they were the better team on the field, never trailing in a 35-21 second-round victory.

To Thompson coach Mark Freeman, the performance showed two things that the program is also familiar with: hard work and determination.

“Our program was built on games like this,” Freeman said. “Back in the years when we were building the program, they were built on our kids going and winning (against) these kinds of programs.”

As a result, Freeman and the Warriors relished in their role of playing spoiler, putting their program’s character on display in the biggest game of the season.

“We’re champions,” Freeman said. “The program is bigger than a week or a season and, I get it, but it was the first time in a long time that we’ve been an underdog, and it actually felt pretty good being an underdog.”

Both defenses took over the game early, bringing the pressure and taking advantage of penalties to force quick punts.

Thompson nearly had a chance to break the deadlock with a short field with 3:29 left in the first, but Jackson Luvvorn got a third-down sack to back up the Warriors to the Auburn 29.

Forced into a long 46-yard field goal attempt, John Alan McGuire couldn’t convert and left the game tied at 0-0.

The Tigers then punted once again to start the second quarter, but after forcing a pair of incompletions, it looked as if Auburn would take back over after a punt.

However, the Tigers muffed the punt and Thompson pounced on the ball at the Auburn 42, and that was the spark that the Warriors needed.

After Pryce Lewis kept the drive alive on a third-and-4, Seaborn connected with Darion Moseley for a 19-yard touchdown to put Thompson up 7-0 with 8:53 left in the second.

On the ensuing drive, the Tigers then got a pair of first downs on the ground, but they could not get a third after quarterback Jackson Kilgore was spotted short of the line on third down. The Warriors then got the stop to force a turnover on downs at the Thompson 28.

Two plays later, the Warriors punished Auburn with a Seaborn bomb to Dedrick Kimbrough on the right sideline. The freshman took the catch 72 yards to the house, doubling up Thompson’s lead to 14-0 with 2:46 remaining in the second.

That scoreline held through the half, but the Tigers came out of the locker room determined to respond.

Auburn nearly got yards at will on the ground, marching down the field before a flushed Kilgore found his man in the back corner of the end zone, cutting the deficit to 14-7 with 8:13 remaining in the third.

While the Warriors punted on their ensuing drive, they quickly stole the ball away on defense.

On a deep throw into double coverage, Payton Lewis bobbled the ball and tipped it to Damonte Tabb for the interception, only Kilgore’s third of the entire season.

The ensuing Thompson drive looked like it would stall out before Seaborn scrambled for the sticks on third down deep in Warriors territory. Not only did he get the first down, he got much more as he hit clean air before getting stopped at the 4-yard line.

RJ Evans took care of the rest, scoring on the next play to put Thompson back up 14 with 3:44 remaining in the third.

The Warriors defense forced another quick punt on the final play of the quarter, but the offensive drive that followed was much longer and more grueling.

Dujon took the ball 27 yards to the Tigers 12-yard line, leading to a long and strange sequence before scoring.

After an Evans touchdown was called back for a hold, Seaborn’s hard count on fourth-and-2 from the 4 drew an encroachment penalty. However, the official called for a measurement after the ball moved half the distance, and it was ruled short.

Thompson needed another measurement on the ensuing play to get the first down and extend the drive, and Dujon then punched it in to end the six-minute drive and increase the lead to 35-7 with 5:42 left in the game.

Auburn refused to go quietly into the night and added two more touchdowns before the game finished, but it wouldn’t be enough to overcome the large deficit, giving the Warriors the 35-21 win over the top-ranked team in Class 7A.

Seaborn went 18-of-21 for 208 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 75 yards off seven carries. Kimbrough was his top receiver, catching four passes for 91 yards and a touchdown. Moseley caught seven balls for 42 yards and a touchdown and Lewis had 42 yards off five receptions.

Dujon rushed 13 times for 74 yards and two touchdowns and Evans took eight carries for 33 yards and a score.

After the game, Freeman credited his players for working hard all week and doing what they needed to in order to capitalize on his assistants’ game plan.

“Our kids came in and played their hearts out,” Freeman said. “We had the best week of practice we’ve ever had. and it goes back to those kids understanding that hard work is all we’ve got. And I told them we left nothing. Our coaches are depleted, there was nothing left when we got on that bus come down here, except the kids to go play football, and I’m proud of my coaches. Defense, I can’t say enough about what Shawn (Defoor) and them did on defense. Offense showed up, we played good. God is good and we are blessed and we’re heading home to get ready for next week.”

Next week will present another challenge for Thompson as it prepares to host the Enterprise Wildcats on Nov. 22 at Warrior Stadium with a spot in the Class 7A state championship game at Birmingham’s Protective Stadium on the line.

While Freeman will let the Warriors celebrate the big win for what it is, he has his eyes set on somewhere where Thompson is no stranger to: the Super 7.

“This season’s far from over,” Freeman said. “Now, that was a good football team. Auburn’s a good football team, but every week you go now, you’re facing really good football team. So it was a tough game against a really good opponent, but there’s other weeks. Now we’ve got to go back, give them 24 hours to celebrate and get ready for next week and the next challenge.”