By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor
AUBURN – The Thompson Warriors are no strangers to the playoffs, but they are strangers to being underdogs going into a big matchup. That was the case as they prepared to face the undefeated, No. 1-ranked Auburn High School Tigers on the road at Duck Samford Stadium on Nov. 15.
However, when the final whistle blew, the Warriors left little doubt that they were the better team on the field, never trailing in a 35-21 second-round victory.
To Thompson coach Mark Freeman, the performance showed two things that the program is also familiar with: hard work and determination.
“Our program was built on games like this,” Freeman said. “Back in the years when we were building the program, they were built on our kids going and winning (against) these kinds of programs.”
As a result, Freeman and the Warriors relished in their role of playing spoiler, putting their program’s character on display in the biggest game of the season.
“We’re champions,” Freeman said. “The program is bigger than a week or a season and, I get it, but it was the first time in a long time that we’ve been an underdog, and it actually felt pretty good being an underdog.”