ALABASTER, Alabama -- Defense, defense and more defense was the name of the game for the #1 Thompson Warriors as the knocked off #3 Hewitt-Trussville 42-9 in a Class 7A, Region 3 matchup in Warrior Stadium on Friday night. Thompson used their pressure from the front seven for most of the night to make it difficult for the Huskies offense.

With the win, Thompson (5-0, 3-0) has outscored their opponents by a crazy margin of 259-12 as the defense has only give up two field goals and a touchdown in five games. "We played great defense and when you play great defense you have a chance to win every game." said Warriors head coach Mark Freeman. "We had a great week of practice and it showed tonight. Jeremiah (Alexander) and Peter (Woods), they are once in a lifetime type players along with Jax Van Zandt and Nate Riddle. Our defense is just playing great. They are playing hard and pretty much mistake free. Hewitt-Trussville made some plays on us and you have to give them credit for that."

Thompson scored first in the game after the Huskies defense forced a three-and-out on the first possession by the Warriors. With 8:25 left in the first quarter, Conner Harrell threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Peppins for a score. With the touchdown, Thompson led 7-0 early in the game. Peppins made a great over the shoulder catch in the end zone for the score. With 7:00 left in the second quarter, Thompson scored again on a Harrell to Peppins 10-yard touchdown pass play. Peppins caught a quick pass at the line of scrimmage and made a couple cuts and ran untouched into the end zone. With the score, Thompson led 14-0.

With 5:01 left in the second quarter, the Thompson defense scored a touchdown. On a Huskies pass, linebacker Alexander tipped the ball in the air and linebacker Seth Hampton intercepted the pass and raced 25-yards for the score. With the touchdown, Thompson led 21-0 late in the first half. Right before the half, Hewitt-Trussville drove the field. Cade Ott Carruth hooked up with Omari Kelly on a couple passes and Ryan Shoop caught a big pass to give the Huskies a good scoring chance. With multiple tries at the Warriors three-yard line, Hewitt-Trussville had to settle for a William Curtis 20-yard field goal as time expired in the first half. With the score, Thompson led 21-3 at the half.

In the second half, the Hewitt-Trussville defense that played so well only giving up two scores in the first half gave up a touchdown right out of halftime that hurt the momentum for the Huskies. With 11:02 left in the third quarter, Harrell hit Jaylen Ward on a long 55-yard touchdown pass play and he was 20-yards behind the defense. With the score, Thompson led 28-3. On the ensuing kickoff, the Huskies had a special teams disaster as the kickoff was fumbled on the return and kicked into the end zone and Jayden Davis of Thompson bounced on the ball for a Warriors touchdown. 

Hewitt-Trussville (4-1, 2-1) scored a touchdown on a Carruth to Kelly 50-yard touchdown pass play. Kelly caught the ball over the middle of the field and ran it in for a Huskies touchdown. The two-point conversion failed and Thompson led 35-9. With 8:15 left in the game, Harrell completed another long pass to Ward for a 23-yard touchdown pass play for the Warriors. With the score, Thompson led 42-9. In the last eight minutes of the game, running back Justin Pegues rushed 10 straight plays to close out the win for Thompson. "We wanted to play up to our competition and every game is a new game," said Warriors DL Woods. "We had to play our game. This was a great win. We proved to us that we can compete with everyone."

For Thompson, Harrell finished the game completing 16-of-23 passing for 206 yards and four touchdowns. Ward had 115 yards receiving with his two touchdowns. Peppins had 91 yards receiving with two touchdowns. Pegues had 100 yards on 14 carries. "The defense gave up great field position for most of the night," said Warriors QB Harrell. "The offensive line worked great and we picked it up as the game went on. We came together and kept working. We put in a lot of work in the off season with my receivers. I trust them and they trust me putting the ball where it needs to go."

Alexander had six tackles, four tackles for loss and two big sacks in the game. "We came out ready to play," said Warriors LB Alexander. "We did the best we could. We gave up points but you can't harp on that. You just have to move on to the next game. We played aggressive all night long. This is a good win for us." 

For Hewitt-Trussville, Carruth completed 14-of-29 passing for 131 yards and a touchdown. Kelly had 10 receptions and 119 yards and a touchdown.

Up next, Thompson will travel to Mountain Brook to play the Spartans while Hewitt-Trussville will host the Huffman Vikings.