Rebels fall at top-ranked Thompson

ALABASTER -- It looked like the Class 7A No. 1 Thompson High School football team was going to run Vestavia Hills High School football team off the field, but the Rebels fought back and nearly made it a one-score game.

In the end, it was the quick-strike Warriors offense, sparked by dynamic performances from standouts Conner Harrell, Sam Reynolds and Ryan Peppins that put the dagger in the Rebels in a 38-9 loss to the Warriors.

Peppins scored on a 99-yard kickoff return on the first play of the game, and the Warriors led 24-0 after their first four possessions.

"We gave them a cheap one right off the bat,” Vestavia head coach Buddy Anderson said. "You can’t get down to somebody like this. They’ve got a good football team. I’m proud of my kids. They could have thrown in the towel and they didn’t throw in the towel. They kept battling."

But Vestavia (1-5, 1-3 in Class 7A, Region 3) was able to control the clock over the second and third quarters and nearly get back in it.

A 9-yard touchdown run from Bryant Agee but a missed extra point cut the halftime lead to 24-6. The Rebels had a 12-play drive to start the third and barely missed on a touchdown pass to Cole Turner, but he was out of bounds on the reception. Matthew McMeans’ 30-yard field goal cut it to 24-9.

The defense then held Thompson (7-0, 4-0) to a three-and-out, and the Warriors only ran three offensive plays in the third. Quarterback Braden Glenn, tight end Hasting Sykes and running back Taiyo Crawford led a drive down to the Thompson 2-yard line, but on fourth-and-goal, fullback Landon Neese was stopped by linebacker Seth Hampton a yard before the goal line.

That was on the first play of the fourth quarter and Thompson went 99 yards in four plays A 44-yard pass from Harrell to Tre Roberson pushed it to midfield and the Warriors scored on a 39-yard pass to Peppins. On the next drive, Reynolds made it 38-9 on his 26-yard touchdown run.

"We should have had a score when we got down to the 2 and we should have scored right there (on the final drive of the game), but it didn’t happen,” Anderson said. "They kept us out. We shot ourselves in the foot, but our kids played hard.”

Thompson’s Harrell hit 19-of-22 passes for 305 yards and two touchdowns. Peppins, along with his kickoff return for a touchdown, had 10 catches for 157 yards and a score. Reynolds ran for 129 yards and two touchdowns.

Vestavia Hills’ passing attack improved from its 17-10 win over Tuscaloosa County two weeks ago. Braden Glen hit 12-of-20 passes for 137 yards. Sykes had three receptions for 56 yards. Turner caught three passes for 42. The Rebels also had 165 yards on the ground.

"We were managing the clock and managing our offense against their defense,” Anderson said. "We just shot ourselves in the foot too many times.

"Our kids played hard. They’re going to play hard every week. We played a great team tonight and we’ll play another great team next week."

Vestavia Hills continues its challenging stretch through Region 3 next week when the Rebels travel to Hewitt-Trussville.

“Any time you play them, you know they’re going to give extra effort for Coach Anderson (who is retiring at the end of the year),” Thompson head coach Mark Freeman said. "They know he’s making his last trip around to some of these places. Those kids, they played hard and they've overcome some stuff early in the year with the coronavirus. All respect to them."

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