Thompson flips script in win over Spartans

MOUNTAIN BROOK -- It was a familiar script for the Mountain Brook High School football team on Friday night. 

Shutdown defense. Physical running attack. Timely plays in the passing game. 

It’s not as much fun, however, when it’s someone putting together that script. On Friday night in a critical Class 7A, Region 3 showdown with Thompson, it was the Warriors doing all of those things in a 31-7 victory over Mountain Brook on the Spartans home field.

“Our focus was to come out and play a complete game,” said Thompson head coach Mark Freeman. “(Mountain Brook head coach Chris Yeager) and them do such a great job over there. It’s hard to prepare for everything they do. We just had to come out here and try to do what we did. Man, it was just a great night.”

Mountain Brook lost for the first time this season after running off seven consecutive victories. The Spartans also lost a chance to clinch at least a tie for the Region 3 title. Instead, the Spartans fall into a four-way tie in first place with Thompson, Hoover and Hewitt-Trussville with one region game remaining. All four have clinched a playoff berth with the order of finish being determined next week.

None of that was on Mountain Brook’s mind at the outset of Friday night’s game. The focus was on slowing down Thompson quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa and finding a way to keep the explosive Warriors offense off the field.

Things didn’t begin smoothly for the Spartans with quarterback Strother Gibbs fumbling on the third offensive snap. Thompson safety Sam Holmes scooped up the loose ball at the 25-yard line and advanced five yards before being tackled. It took two plays – a 12-yard scamper by Tagovailoa and an 8-yard touchdown run by Shadrick Byrd – to put the Warriors on the board. After Evan McGuire’s PAT, Thompson led 7-0. 

Mountain Brook had an answer to the big mistake. The Spartans drove 80 yards on 12 time-consuming plays. The lone pass on the march was a 12-yard strike from Gibbs to Hamp Greene. Other than that, the Spartans moved the chains on the ground and eventually scored on an 8-yard touchdown run by Sam Higgins. Atkins Roberts’ conversion tied the game at 7.

The Mountain Brook defense did enough after that to keep the Spartans in the game. Thompson managed just three more first-half possessions but managed to score on two of those. Tagovailoa connected with Michael Pettway on an 8-yard scoring toss early in the second quarter, and McGuire hit a 28-yard field goal with 46.5 seconds left in the first half. 

Mountain Brook missed an excellent opportunity to cut into the lead in the final seconds of the first half. Gibbs and Greene connected on a 35-yard pass on the first play of the ensuing possession, and three more passes moved the ball to the Spartans 23-yard line with 9.7 seconds left. Roberts came on to attempt a 40-yard field goal but came up short. 

Thompson punted on its first two possessions of the second half, but Mountain Brook couldn’t take advantage. The Spartans also had trouble moving the ball, and the Warriors eventually wore them down. Byrd added a pair of rushing touchdowns in the second half to help Thompson win comfortably.

Mountain Brook managed just 163 yards on 40 offensive snaps. Gibbs was 8-of-13 for 101 yards, and running back A.J. Gates was limited to 48 yards on 11 carries. Greene had five catches for 68 yards.  

The Spartans will play at Hoover next Friday. 

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