PELHAM, Alabama -- The Thompson Warriors outscored the Pelham Panthers 17-0 from the midway point to the end of the game and go on to to defeat the Panthers 31-14 at Ned Beardon Stadium Friday night for Homecoming at Pelham High School. The Panthers took the opening second half kickoff and scored a touchdown with 5:25 left in the third quarter and trim the Warriors lead to three points but fell short in the end.

Thompson (3-2) scored on two touchdown runs along with a field goal and put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter. "They did everything that we asked them to do this week after a heartbreaking lost last Friday night," said Warriors Head coach Mark Freeman. "Our kids are young, but you wonder how they will bounce back. We had the best Monday of any week of the season so far so I'm so proud of our players how they bounced back. The kids are resilient and we are getting better but we have a long way to go."

Pelham (1-5) scored first in the game when Derrick Bush picked up a Warriors fumble and raced 35-yards for a touchdown. Jose Jimenez Lopez kicked the extra point and Pelham led 7-0 with 8:07 left in the first quarter. With 6:12 left in the first quarter, Thompson responded right back when Josh Huner scores on a 7-yard touchdown run. Logan Brown kicked the extra point and the game was tied at 7-7.

With 6:10 left in the second quarter, Shadrick Byrd scored on a 3-yard touchdown run for the Warriors. Brown kicked the PAT and Thompson led 14-7. As time expired right before the half, Brown kicked a 38-yard field goal and Thompson led 17-7 at halftime. "The defense always plays good," added Freeman. "Defense did a great job. We had some kids out tonight. Some key players that some younger guys stepped up and I'm really proud of them." Thompson outgained Pelham 446 to 171 total yards.

In the second half, the Panthers held the ball for over six minutes on a long drive and Jon Drake punched the ball in on a 1-yard touchdown run for the Panthers. Lopez kicked the PAT and the Panthers cut the Thompson lead to 17-14 with 5:25 left in the third quarter. "Our kids battled all night," said Panthers Head coach Tom Causey. "We took the long drive that we scored on right after halftime that was big, but we had the bad turnover on the next possession that hurt us." Nicolas Blackburn led the Panthers with 80 yards on 26 carries on the night.

The Panthers forced a punt when they were down only three points and started the next drive at their 11-yard line, but on the first play the Panthers fumbled and Arshon Willis jumped on the loose ball to set the Thompson offense up in great field position. With 1:15 left in the third quarter, Joseph Ford scored on a 14-yard touchdown run for the Warriors. Brown kicked the extra point and Thompson led 24-14 and shifted the momentum the rest of the game. Ford had 46 yards on 7 carries and at touchdown for the Warriors.

With 8:11 left in the game, Corey Burroughs raced 56-yards down the right side of the field for a Warriors touchdown. Brown kicked the PAT and Thompson led 31-14. With 3:03 left in the game, Brown connected on a 35-yard field goal and Thompson went on for the 34-14 win over their cross-town rivals. Burroughs finished the game with 111 yards on 9 carries with a huge 12.3 yards per carry average and one touchdown.

Austin Davis had a big night for the Warriors as he played both ways on offense and defense. Davis had an interception in the Panthers end zone that turned away a Pelham score and had two receptions for 57 yards on the night." I was just doing me job on the interception and the defense front put a lot of pressure on the passer," said Warriors DB/WR Davis. "We have a lot of work to do to keep pushing ourselves to get better on defense, but we just need to keep working on the small things to be a great defense."

Both teams head back in area play next week. Thompson will host Vestavia Hills while Pelham will travel to Wetumpka.