Huskies suffer 1st loss at Thompson
ALABASTER – Thompson High School continued its rampage through Alabama high school football on Friday night.
The latest victim was Hewitt-Trussville, which fell to the Warriors 42-9 at Warrior Stadium in a Class 7A, Region 3 contest.
“They’re obviously a great football team, and they’ve got talent all over the field; it’s ridiculous,” Hewitt-Trussville head coach Josh Floyd said following the game.
Thompson (5-0, 3-0 in region) jumped out 21-0 through a quarter and a half and never relented. Hewitt-Trussville (4-1, 2-1) turned the ball over on consecutive second-quarter possessions and the Warriors capitalized quickly.
“I don’t feel like we gave ourselves a very good chance,” Floyd said. “Offensively, when we had some big plays in the first half, they were all penalties. And we gave them a couple easy ones and you can’t give them easy ones.”
On those possessions, Hewitt had long plays wiped out, one by holding and another by a blindside block. Turnovers and an ensuing touchdown soon followed.
Thompson got on the board first, as Ryan Peppins caught a short pass from Conner Harrell and took it 26 yards to the end zone to. Peppins and Harrell connected again for an 11-yard score following the Huskies’ first turnover. Seth Hampton intercepted a deflected pass and took it 20 yards for a score to make it 21-0.
The Huskies had an opportunity to cut into the deficit before halftime and put together a long drive, reaching the Thompson 3-yard line. But the drive stalled and a CJ Curtis 22-yard field goal made it 21-3 at the break.
“Obviously, it would’ve been great [to score]. We could’ve cut it to a two-score game and it would’ve given us some better momentum,” Floyd said.
Thompson poured it on in the second half. Jaylen Ward scored on touchdown receptions of 55 and 23 yards. After Ward’s first touchdown, Thompson recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff in the end zone.
Harrell completed 16-of-23 passes on the night, all to Ward and Peppins, for 206 yards and the four scores. Ward finished with 115 yards and Peppins added 91 yards. Justin Pegues added 100 yards on the ground on 14 carries.
Hewitt’s lone score came on a 51-yard pass from Cade Carruth to Omari Kelly. It was the first touchdown Thompson has allowed all season. The Warriors have now outscored their first five opponents 259-12.
Carruth finished 14-of-29 passing for 131 yards. Kelly caught 10 of those balls for 119 yards. James Hammonds was the team’s leading rusher, going for 27 yards on eight carries.
“At the end of the day, it’s one game. We’ve got a lot to learn from this. It’s not fun, but the season’s not over. We’ve just got to bounce back next week and learn from this,” Floyd said.
Hewitt-Trussville takes a break from region play next week, as the Huskies host Huffman. Thompson heads to Mountain Brook to take on the Spartans.