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When the Auburn High Tigers entered the locker room at halftime of their rivalry game against Opelika in August 2018, the mood felt a lot like gloom and doom. That is, until Mohamoud Diabate had his say.

The Tigers trailed the Bulldogs 15-7 at the break after a first half that saw a normally-stingy Auburn defense give up far too many explosive plays, which included an 80-yard touchdown pass early in the opening quarter. Auburn had just been gashed again before the second quarter ended on a 29-yard touchdown pass, and the Tigers were looking for someone to stand up and make a statement.

Diabate did just that.

“We were down at halftime, and he came in there and was like, 'Yeah, we got this,’” teammate Omari Porter said. “We were kind of all down about losing to Opelika at halftime. He said, 'We've got to finish the game out. We've got to get a win.' That's what we did.”

Auburn rallied in the second half and held the Bulldogs to only one touchdown to help the Tigers take a 22-15 victory. Diabate made countless plays after his words of inspiration but none bigger than the final one, when he raced around an Opelika offensive tackle and hit the Bulldogs’ quarterback to knock the ball loose and thwart a last-second Hail Mary attempt.