SPARTANS FALL TO THOMPSON IN FINAL MINUTES

Strother Gibbs handed the ball to running back Sam Higgins on the most important play of Friday’s game between the Mountain Brook and Thompson high school football teams. It was fourth-and-6 at the Thompson 39-yard line, and the Spartans trailed by six points. There were only 65 seconds left on the clock. So Higgins took the handoff, stopped and threw back across the field to his quarterback, Gibbs, who had bolted from the pocket. But Ja’Vone Williams sniffed out the trickeration. The Thompson defensive back intercepted the pass and returned it 65 yards to the end zone, cementing the Warriors’ 33-21 home victory that secured their second Class 7A, Region 3 title in three years. “That’s the number one team in the state,” Mountain Brook head coach Chris Yeager said, “and we’re ahead late in the game with a chance to win, and we did not make plays.” The Spartans (7-1, 4-1 in region) took a 21-14 lead midway through the fourth quarter on a zig-zagging 44-yard touchdown run from Gibbs, who rushed for 98 yards and threw for another 157. Mountain Brook started that drive near midfield after Braxton Wetzler forced Thompson quarterback Sawyer Pate to fumble as he dropped back to pass. Jackson Allison fell on the loose ball. That was the second turnover the Spartans caused in the game. The first came in the second quarter, when Will Yarbro intercepted a Pate pass that got tipped at the line of scrimmage. Yarbro’s pick kept Thompson (8-0, 5-0) out of the end zone and gave his team the ball at its own 7-yard line. “I’ll tell you what it did,” Yeager said. “It gave our guys the confidence that, ‘Hey, we can play with these guys.’” The teams were tied 7-7 at half thanks to a 12-yard rushing touchdown from Higgins and a 4-yard score from Thompson’s Jermel Gaiters, who totaled 102 yards on the night. Mountain Brook recovered an onside kick to begin the third quarter, which led to a 6-yard touchdown scramble from Gibbs. But Thompson answered, answered and then answered again. Pate, who completed 17-of-23 passes for 234 yards, evened the score at 14-14 on a 14-yard touchdown pass to JB Mitchell. After Gibbs’ weaving run in the fourth quarter, Pate hit Sam Reynolds for a 59-yard strike down the right sideline to knot the game at 21-21. "We missed a lot of tackles and gave them space to run," Mountain Brook linebacker Clark Griffin said, "and they did in the second half.” Gaiters scored his second touchdown of the night on Thompson’s next possession, bulldozing in for a 7-yard score. A missed extra point left the Warriors with a 27-21 lead. Mountain Brook tried to mount one final drive, but it ended with the game-sealing pick-six. “They’re a really good team, but so are we,” Griffin said. “We played neck and neck with them all game, and the court flipped their way.” Mountain Brook and Thompson will play their final region games next Friday, with the Spartans hosting Hoover for homecoming and Thompson traveling to Hewitt-Trussville.

SPARTANS FALL TO THOMPSON IN FINAL MINUTES

Photo Credit: Frank Couch