This finish was nothing short of miraculous.
10 points in 18 seconds!
The Alabama Class 7A state championship game between Thompson and Auburn on Wednesday night in Tuscaloosa featured one of the most incredible finishes you’ll ever see.
After turning the ball over on downs with 1:18 to play trailing by nine, 28–19, Thompson looked dead in the water. The turnover gave Auburn the ball at the Thompson 20-yard line, but instead of calling a few run plays and trying to score a dagger of a touchdown or move into position for a field goal that would make it a two-touchdown game, Auburn went into a shotgun victory formation. Thompson had just two timeouts remaining, so there would only be a few scant seconds on the clock once it got the ball back. As Auburn (having lost 25 yards kneeling out of the shotgun) prepared to punt the ball away and the clock ticked under 30 seconds, Thompson players consoled each other on the sideline.
But then came the first of several miracles. Thompson’s Korbyn Williams blocked the punt and returned it for a touchdown.
Now, with 18 seconds on the clock and trailing 28–26, Thompson needed to recover the onside kick and score again. The Warriors accomplished the first part of that equation with relative ease. No Auburn player seemed particularly keen to try to recover the onside attempt, and it ended up in the hands of a Thompson player at the 46-yard line.
An NFL team could have run a quick 10-yard out route to put its kicker in position for a look at a long game-winner, but this is high school. Thompson needed some help.
That help came in the form of two pass interference penalties. The flags advanced the ball to the 18-yard line of the Tigers, giving Thompson kicker Trevor Hardy a chance to kick a 35-yard field goal for the win. It went through as time expired, giving Thompson a 29–28 victory.
That’s 10 points scored in 18 seconds.
Hardy was, rightfully, named MVP of the game. He came up huge there at the end, not only with the game-winner, but also with the perfect onside kick and the extra point after the blocked punt touchdown.
The victory sealed an undefeated season for Thompson and gave the Warriors their second straight state title, while Auburn was denied its first championship. It’s the eighth title for Thompson coach Mark Freeman, who won six titles before arriving at the suburban Birmingham public school in 2015. (He was the highest-paid high school coach in the state at the time of his hiring, with a salary of $121,000.)
“I’m basically speechless,” Freeman told AL.com. “The way things turned out in the end, the way it happened, is unbelievable.”
The best of SI
Jeremy Woo grades the blockbuster Russell Westbrook–John Wall trade. … Breaking down the NBA’s best Christmas Day matchups. … Inspired by the late congressman Elijah Cummings, former NFL receiver Torrey Smith is dedicated to helping the people of Baltimore.
Around the sports world
LeBron has agreed to a two-year extension that will keep him under contract until he’s 39. … Kirk Herbstreit has concerns about the future of college football when the playoff is such a singular focus. … Rockets guard Danuel House apologized for the incident that got him kicked out of the NBA bubble.
Here are the full highlights from the Thompson-Auburn game
They’re working so well that in the past week we’ve seen a game get postponed three times and a team play a practice squad receiver at QB
Uh oh
If you heard something confusing in an NFL press conference, it was probably Jimmy Fallon’s fault
Joey Bosa is a madman
Sting made a surprise appearance in AEW and has signed a multi-year, full-time deal
Miguel Cabrera is truly one of the game’s greatest hitters
All three Ball brothers are in the NBA, just like LaVar always promised
This is what happens when there’s no crowd to chant “de-fense”
Not sports
A suspected car thief in England fell “neck-deep” into manure while trying to evade police. … The beach house featured in the HBO series The Undoing is available on Airbnb. … A few Lord of the Rings actors are donating to a campaign to buy J.R.R. Tolkein’s house and have it turned into a literary center.
Now imagine how bad that room smells
“Every Breath You Take” as a terrible honky tonk song
A good song
Email dan.gartland@si.com with any feedback or follow me on Twitter for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. Bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.
