Important game kicks off season's second half

After Friday night's game, one team will be 2-2 in the region and the other will be 1-3.

Those are vastly different positions over halfway through the regular season, and Vestavia Hills and Thompson are both attempting to get back to .500 in Class 7A, Region 3 following a 1-2 start.

The two teams will face off at Thompson High School on Friday at 7 p.m. In the last game played at Larry Simmons Stadium, Oak Mountain knocked off Thompson with a last-second touchdown pass. While that scenario does not present itself very often, Vestavia Hills would like nothing more than to leave Alabaster with a win of its own.

The Rebels are 3-2 overall and are coming off a 34-12 homecoming victory over Helena last week. Vestavia Hills' defense forced five turnovers and Toliver Chatwood rushed for three touchdowns.

In total, Chatwood racked up 158 yards rushing on 18 carries.

“We’ve got really tough opponents coming up,” Chatwood said following the game, “so we needed this win to boost our morale and get us focused for next week.”

Thompson traveled to Pelham last week and came away with a 34-14 win, a much needed momentum boost after losing consecutive games to Mountain Brook and Oak Mountain by a combined five points.