Jordan-Hare nightmare: Thompson upends Central in Alabama 7A championship
Jordan-Hare Stadium has not been kind to Central this season.
The Red Devils opened their 2019 season by falling in heartbreaking fashion to Hoover on Auburn University’s home field, a game in which they fumbled on the goal line, then lost on a game-winning field goal. Wednesday night’s Alabama 7A state championship did not offer quite as much drama, but the result was even tougher to swallow for a Central team that had not lost since that August bout with Hoover.
The second-ever meeting between Thompson and Central, which the Warriors won 40-14, could not have gone any differently than the first. The Red Devils could not find any sort of rhythm on offense, the Warriors took the game to the defending state champions from the start, and Thompson quarterback Sawyer Pate came to play.
“We just had little things go against us tonight,” Central coach Jamey DuBose said. “It just wasn’t in the cards tonight, but our guys played hard, I’m proud of them, and we’ve just got to go back and play a little bit better in those crucial situations.”
DuBose was right: the little things did not go Central’s way Wednesday night. The Red Devils finished with 12 penalties for 85 yards, went 1-of-8 on third down (compared to Thompson’s 9-of-12) and committed three turnovers. They finished 0-of-3 on fourth down attempts.
It was just one of those nights.
“Every time we had something going, we shot ourselves in the foot,” DuBose said. “We were our worst enemy at times tonight.”
But this was a dominant performance by a Thompson team that looked every bit as good as its 11-1 record (12-1, after Wednesday night) advertised. The Red Devils, who at one point trailed by 19 points, were outgained in nearly every facet. Bowling Green commit Tucker Melton, playing in his final game for the Red Devils, completed 8-of-16 passes for 112 yards and failed to find the end zone.
The Red Devils did not hit the 200 total yard mark until late in the third quarter.
“They took the fight to us up front,” DuBose said. “I thought they out-physicaled us a little bit at times up front. They packed the box, and they had a good plan. They slanted into a couple of plays a couple of times, and we were just a step or two away. ... That’s just part of the game. That’s part of what happens.”
Since beating Cedar Grove in late August, the Red Devils had not played a close game, and won the region with a 34-7 win over Auburn on Oct. 25. The Auburn game was the Red Devils’ closest since their Aug. 31 win over Cedar Grove, until their 24-6 home win over Prattville in the 7A playoffs and tonight’s blowout loss.
Central’s trip to Auburn was nearly identical to the one it made a year ago. The Red Devils stayed at the same hotel and most of the players were on last year’s state title-winning squad. The only pre-game element that changed was the locker room.
But the game could not have gone more differently.
“They turned the tables on us this year,” DuBose said.
Pate finished with 239 passing yards and two touchdowns, and two more rushing touchdowns. His final score of the night saw him lower his shoulder into a group of Central defenders and plow ahead into the end zone. Most of Central’s fans had already left by then, and a few more stood and headed to the exits after Pate’s touchdown saw the Warriors hit the 40-point mark.
Central’s high-powered offense struggled to find a rhythm. Its normally-stout defense was gashed to the tune of 359 total yards. The 40 points surrendered are the most the Red Devils have given up this season, by a long shot.
And the 14 points scored by the Red Devils tied their lowest scoring output all year: 14 points in their season-opening loss to Hoover, in the same stadium.
“It’s just a blessing that we got to be here,” Central receiver and Clemson commit E.J. Williams said. “There’s plenty of other teams that I know would be dying to sit in this chair after a loss right now.”
This story was originally published December 5, 2019 at 12:14 AM.
