Haiden Thompson, Miami football, Jr.
On the field: It seemed there wasn’t anything Thompson didn’t do for Miami in last week’s 40-38 win over McLean in a crucial District 1-1A Division I game. Thompson made an impact on offense, defense and in the kicking game for the Warriors to ultimately decide the game. He made a 27-yard field goal with seven seconds to play which decided the game and gave Miami a 1-1 district mark and 6-3 overall record with a shot to make the playoffs heading into the final week of the regular season. Playing the spread offensively, Thompson was involved in all of Miami’s scoring, throwing for 170 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 167 yards and two more touchdowns. At linebacker on defense, Thompson made 14 tackles and had an interception. In addition to his game-winning field goal, also kicked three extra points, which are worth two points each in Six-man football. Thompson also reached a milestone, going over 100 career touchdowns.
Coach Donnie Howell: “Haiden since I got here last year has been a special player. He has a tremendous amount of talent, and he works hard at this. When we; put the game plan together we understand that a lot of what we do offensively is going to go through him. He’s really good a facilitating and getting the other guys involved and spreading the ball around in the passing game. He’s going to throw the football every game and run the football every game and he makes a ton of tackles. In the kicking game he was obviously special for us. If he was in 11-man he would definitely be the quarterback. You’d run a lot of zone read with him because he’s athletic. In the second half we found a set where we were getting the look that we wanted, and Haiden was freed up to move around and he was able to ad lib a little bit.”
Thompson: “In the first half I definitely didn’t play up to my abilities. It was a rough game and I think anybody who watched would agree. The important thing is we came back in the second half and played good when it mattered, and we came away with the win. Coach Howell talked to me and he said ‘You’ve got to get something going.’ In the second half I came out with the mentality of whatever I needed to do I did it and kept rolling from there. We started putting things together and it really clicked the last minute and a half. All of a sudden, we started doing everything right and making all the important plays we needed to. I wouldn’t say I was nervous (before the field goal). I felt like I knew I could make it, I just focused on doing my job and putting it through the uprights. At the end of the day, it was still hard not to enjoy considering the circumstances.”
About Thompson
Favorite band or musician: Lil’ Baby
Favorite social media platform: Snapchat
Favorite athlete: Ezekiel Elliott
Bet you didn’t know: Is a state champion in FFA plant identification
Parents: Shane and Lindy Thompson