By ERIC STARLING / Special to the Reporter

NORTH SHELBY – Shocked, disappointed, confused are all adjectives that could be used to describe the feelings on the Thompson side of the field after its game with Oak Mountain. The Warrior fans watched a 24-7 halftime lead slowly morph into a 41-37 loss in the second half.

The Warriors were playing at a level in the first half that they hadn’t seen since early in the year. The offense was moving the ball and scoring. The defense was dominating the line and also forcing turnovers as Jabari Alexander and KJ Robertson both intercepted Eagles quarterback Warren Shader.

Thompson had already scored on a 36-yard run by Walker Lott and a 38-yard Dimitri Davis field goal when Robertson intercepted Shader and rumbled 38 yards for a pick six. Davis’s point after gave the Warriors a 17-7 lead.

Thompson gained control of the ball again with just over two minutes remaining in the first half and the Warriors, behind Lott, gave a clinic on how to run the two-minute offense. As time ran down Lott hit Corey Burrows who was tackled at the Oak Mountain 2-yard line. With just six seconds left in the half, Frank Mwakajumba scored around the right corner and the Warriors looked to be rolling right into the locker room with a 24-7 lead.

The second half started like the first half ended with the Warriors marching straight down the field. This time Jordan Haywood connected with Burrows for a 40-yard touchdown strike pushing that lead to 31-7.

Oak Mountain scored on their next three possessions. However on the second drive they missed the extra point and then failed on the 2-point conversion attempt on their third score. The Eagle defense kept them in the game by keeping the Warriors from moving the ball successfully.

With the score at 31-26, the Warriors took possession needing to eat some time off the clock. The drive resulted in another six points thanks to a Lott 1-yard run, but Thompson missed the extra point and also only needed four plays to drive 62-yards leaving over six minutes on the clock.

Oak Mountain’s offense again couldn’t be stopped and were aided by a pass interference call deep in the Warriors end of the field. After scoring the touchdown, the Eagles converted the two-point conversion with a pitch out to the left that seemed to float forever.

The Eagles successfully executed the on-side kick and then covered 48 yards in next three minutes as the game drew to a close. With 24 seconds remaining the Eagles took the lead for the first time at 41-37 and held on for the remaining time for the win.

The Warriors will finish the season next Thursday at Chelsea while Oak Mountain will end the season at Pell City on Friday.