One of the most anticipated high school football games in the South this weekend and certainly Alabama takes place Friday when the nation's fourth-ranked team
Thompson (Alabaster) travels to
Hoover in a showdown of 9-0 juggernauts.
The home team hopes to end a five-game skid against Thompson, which ended the Hoover's 2020 season with a 52-14 victory in the Class 7A state semifinals.
In order to end the losing streak, the high-powered Hoover offense, averaging close to 40 points and 400 yards per game, will need to click against one of the top defenses in the country.
How to watch
When: Friday, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. CT
Where: Hoover Metropolitan Complex (Birmingham, Ala.)
Thompson has recorded five shutouts and allowed just 26 points all season, which is less than a field goal per outing.
Hoover has scored at least 34 points in all but one game this season. The Buccaneers are led by junior tailback
Ahamari Williams (863 yards rushing in eight games, 10 touchdowns) and 6-foot-3, 190-pound senior quarterback
Bennett Meredith (1,645 yards, 16 touchdowns, five interceptions).
Cotton Peters (384 yards) and
K.J. Law (445 yards) each have 23 catches.
Meredith was even more prolific as a junior when he completed 243 of 371 passes for 3,106 yards and 24 touchdowns.
North Carolina-bound quarterback Conner Harrell has thrown for 75 touchdowns and just six interceptions in his career for Thompson.
File photo by Brandon Sumrall
The Bucs will need to protect Meredith from the state's top senior recruit in Alabama-bound edge rusher
Jeremiah Alexander, who has 64 tackles, 22 tackles for loss and seven sacks.
Cornerback
Trequon Fegans (also committed to Alabama), Memphis-bound safety
Trevor Hardy and linebackers
Jax Van Zandt (North Texas State) and 6-4, 240-pound
Peter Woods (62 tackles) are more standouts on a Thompson defense that hasn't allowed more than one touchdown in any game.
In the meantime, the Warriors offense has piled up 64 touchdowns. Speedy wide receiver
Ryan Peppins has 17 of those on 48 receptions for 920 yards. He had 14 TD catches as a junior.
Peppins has benefited from gathering passes from one of the state's best quarterbacks in
Conner Harrell. The 6-1, 190-pound senior has completed nearly 70 percent of his attempts (113 of 167) for 2,098 yards with 32 touchdowns and three interceptions.
Harrell's two-year statistics are eye-opening: 346 of 484 (72 percent) for 5,772 yards and 75 touchdowns against just six interceptions. He's also rushed for 651 career yards and nine more scores. He's committed to North Carolina.
The Warriors run by committee, but senior
Brandon Franklin (6-2, 220) leads the way with 507 yards rushing and nine touchdowns. Middle Tennessee State-bound
Jaylen Ward (24 catches, 479 yards, eight TDs) and
Justin Pegues (18, 192, 7) are big-play receivers.
Hoover's heavily-recruited defensive linemen
Markus Clark (6-0, 284) and
Terrell Jones (6-5, 260) hope to slow down a Thompson offense that has scored at least 41 points in every game.
They also hope to turnaround history that lately has gone the Warriors' way since the 2018 playoffs, when Thompson eliminated Hoover, 31-28. They beat the Buccaneers twice in both 2019 and 2020. Previously, Hoover dominated the series, winning 10 straight from 2004-2016.
