Four-time reigning 7A champion Thompson appeared to be on the ropes early in the first half Friday night against Region 3 rival Hewitt-Trussville.

The Huskies led 10-0 midway through the second quarter.

That lead lasted until Thompson’s AJ Green crashed up the middle on a two-yard run to put the first points on the board for the Warriors. Moments later, quarterback Trent Seaborn went behind his right tackle for nine yards to pay dirt, and Thompson led for the first time.

The Warriors didn’t trail again, winning 21-10 to earn the right to face No. 1 Central-Phenix City in the Class 7A championship game. The Red Devils defeated Mary G. Montgomery 21-7 in their semifinal on Friday night.

Thompson (11-1) and Central (12-0) will meet Dec. 6 at Tuscaloosa’s Bryant-Denny Stadium.

“This region, when you have to play these teams twice, it’s hard,” said Thompson coach Mark Freeman. “When they have such great players and they’re so well-coached, we knew going in that it was going to be a dogfight. They came out and went up 10-0, and I don’t know that it was so much that we woke up, but we started doing some things right that we should have been doing from the start.”

The Warriors clamped down on the Huskies for the most part, keeping Hewitt-Trussville out of the red zone and turning away multiple drives in the second half.

With time winding down and less than two minutes to play, junior cornerback Anquon Fegans sealed the game when he leaped over a Hewitt-Trussville receiver to come down with an interception at the Thompson 35-yard line. He returned the ball to the Huskies’ 17. After a first down carry from Green, the Warriors were able to run out the clock.

“I was a critical situation,” Fegans said. “The last time we let one of those balls hang around in the air, the opposing team caught it, so I just said I’m going to take responsibility for this and just do it for the team. Not just for me. I’m very proud of our guys.”

Seaborn, Thompson’s freshman quarterback, went 14-for-20 for 135 yards for the Warriors, while Green rushed 81 yards of 28 carries with a pair of rushing touchdowns.

“Throughout the season, we’ve gone through a lot of adversity, and today was no different,” Seaborn said. “So we knew we had to pick up the pace. We just tweaked a few plays here and there, and after that we were rolling.”

For Hewitt-Trussville (9-4), the loss was disappointing end to the 2023 campaign.

“We started well. We just didn’t make enough plays,” said Huskies’ head coach Josh Floyd. “We had a lot of penalties offensively. Penalties offensively really hurt us.”

Play of the Game: Fegans’ interception and return sealed the victory for Thompson.

By The Numbers: Hewitt-Trussville ran 73 plays with Peyton Floyd going 16-for-28 passing for 121 yards and rushing 23 times for 86 yards and a touchdown. By comparison, the Warriors ran 62 plays in the game with Seaborn going 14-for-20 for 135 yards, while Green ran for 81 yards and two scores.

Game ball: Green was limited to less than 100 yards in the game, but he carried the load for the Warriors.

Coachspeak: “It’s basically an all-star team when you play these guys (Thompson). You have to play your best football. We didn’t play bad football, but we didn’t play our best game.” — Floyd