Thompson offense too much for Rebels
VESTAVIA HILLS -- The Vestavia Hills High School football team didn’t do a bad job of limiting the opportunities for the high-octane Thompson offense on Friday night in a key Class 7A, Region 3 game at Thompson Reynolds Stadium.
After all, Thompson’s quick-tempo offense only had the ball for 49 snaps. However, it’s what the Warriors did with those snaps that was the problem for the Rebels in the 45-14 Thompson victory.
The Warriors (6-0 overall, 4-0 Region 3) amassed 454 yards of offense with Taulia Tagovailoa doing much of the damage. The junior quarterback was 18-of-38 for 318 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He also rushed the ball three times for 20 yards with a pair of touchdowns.
“They got good players,” said Vestavia Hills head coach Buddy Anderson, whose team had a three-game winning streak snapped. “We hurt ourselves but they’re good. There is no doubt about that, they’ve got a good football team.”
For 24 minutes, though, the Rebels (3-3 overall, 2-2 Region 3) stood toe-to-toe, for the most part, with the unbeaten Warriors, even though Thompson did manage to grab a 14-0 lead. The touchdowns came on a 1-yard run by Shadrick Byrd and a 27-yard pass from Tagovailoa to Ahmad Harris-Edwards.
Vestavia Hills cut the deficit in half late in first half after a leaping interception by Spencer Lawson at the Thompson 19-yard line. The Rebels got a quick 12 yards on a run by William Schaffeld, setting up first-and-goal at the 7-yard line. Three plays later, Caleb Huber came on to nail a 27-yard field.
However, Huber was roughed on the play and Anderson chose to take the points off the board. On the next play, Schaffeld swept in from five yards out around left end. Huber’s extra point trimmed the deficit to 14-7.
Thompson countered quickly. The Warriors sped 84 yards on eight plays with Tagovailoa scoring on a 12-yard run with 1:31 left in the half. The Warriors took a 21-7 lead into halftime.
The second half belonged to Thompson.
“I was proud of the way we came out and played hard at first,” Anderson said. “I wish we could have kept that up for the whole ball game. They had a lot to do with it, they’re a good football team.”
An injury to linebacker Wilson Owen, who left in the first half, was also a factor. But, really, the Warriors were just too good on Friday night.
Tagovailoa directed the Warriors to scores on four consecutive possessions to distance themselves from the Rebels. The first touchdown came on a quick-strike 75-yard pass to Michael Pettway on the Warriors’ opening possession of the second half.
The Rebels lone second half touchdown came on a 13-yard pass from backup quarterback Sean Smyth to Ben Willoughby with 3:52 left in the game.
Vestavia Hills gained 199 yards on 57 offensive snaps. Coleman Petway was 5-of-10 for 52 yards through the air. Matthew Paugh had 54 yards on five carries, Reed Stockton carried the ball 10 times for 34 yards and Schaffeld had 20 yards on 14 carries.
The Rebels stay in Region 3 play next week with a road game at Mountain Brook.