Rebels push Thompson to brink, but fall in playoffs
ALABASTER – The Vestavia Hills High School football team didn’t get the result it hoped for Friday night.
But it may have put the rest of Class 7A on notice.
The Rebels outgained Thompson by nearly 100 yards in the second round of the Class 7A playoffs, but Thompson made the plays down the stretch to win 21-12 at Warrior Stadium.
Vestavia Hills ends the season with a 7-5 record, notching its first playoff win in seven years. Thompson advances to the 7A semifinals, where the Warriors will play Hoover for the sixth straight season next Friday.
“I told the guys there’s nothing like winning or losing in the playoffs,” Vestavia Hills head coach Robert Evans said following the game. “This is the last time this will ever play. But those seniors set the model and the example moving forward.
“We’re going to be a force to deal with in the future.”
Thompson put the game away on a few key plays in the fourth quarter. Early in the period, with the Rebels trailing just 7-6, Evans elected for a fake punt on his team’s own 37-yard line. That play failed, and Thompson went up 14-6 two plays later on Michael Dujon’s 33-yard run.
“I wish I probably would have had the punt fake back when we were only down one,” Evans said. “I told them before the game, we go down swinging. I may for the first time ever regret being too aggressive, but that’s just the way it is.”
Vestavia continued to press forward, though, putting together an impressive seven-play, 80-yard drive that featured five John Paul Head completions followed by a 17-yard touchdown run from Head. However, the two-point attempt failed, leaving Thompson with a 14-12 lead with 5:12 left.
Vestavia’s defense then forced a punt, but a muff gave the ball back to the Warriors, who salted the game away with AJ Green’s second touchdown run of the night, putting Thompson ahead 21-12 with 1:32 to play.
“These games are going to come down to big calls and gutsy performances. Both teams laid it on the line,” Evans said.
The first half was all Vestavia. The Rebels embarked on a long drive that bridged the first and second quarters, but settled for a 26-yard field goal from Carter Shirley. Another long drive just before the half ended in a missed field goal, leaving the score at 3-0 at the break.
Over the first two quarters, Thompson ran only nine plays and gained no first downs. Eighth grade quarterback Trent Seaborn made his second straight start and it took some time for him to settle in. But the Warriors came out in the third quarter and immediately put those putrid numbers away. They marched 69 yards in 11 plays, gaining five first downs and scoring on Green’s 1-yard run to take a 7-3 lead.
Vestavia responded with an impressive drive of its own and cut the deficit to 7-6 with Shirley’s 27-yard field goal. But from there, the Rebels turned the ball over on possessions before and after the fake punt attempt.
Head finished the night 21-of-33 passing for 177 yards and three interceptions. He rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. Keown Richardson caught three balls for 70 yards, Tucker Smitha had seven grabs for 59 yards and Jack Lockhart had five catches for 33 yards.
Seaborn was 9-of-17 for 44 yards. Green had 79 yards and a pair of scores on 17 rushes, while Dujon went for 49 yards on five carries.
When the dust settled, Evans had nothing but high praise for his first team at Vestavia Hills.
“I’m the luckiest coach in the world to have 43 seniors that bought in, did everything right and modeled the way we practice and play to our younger guys, our middle school and youth,” he said. “There were a lot of good football players in that group, too. There’s no good words.”
Many thought the Rebels had a chance coming into the game against the three-time defending state champions, a point of pride for Evans and his staff.
They nearly made those people look pretty smart.
“We’ll have to reload and rebuild for next year. Down the road in two, three, four years when our weight program is on par with everybody else’s, we’re going to win these games and go further,” he said.
Thompson will travel to Hoover next week, as the Warriors aim for their fourth straight state title.