Huskies blast Gadsden City
TRUSSVILLE — Orange “Slow” signs dotted the roads throughout Trussville on Friday, imploring motorists to use caution while passing through construction areas.
While construction is ongoing near Hewitt-Trussville Stadium right now, those signs did not pertain to the Hewitt-Trussville High School football team, which blasted Gadsden City 64-17 on Friday. It was the most points the Huskies (1-1) have scored since they notched 65 against Callaway (Miss.) in 2017.
“I think you’ll see this team get better every week,” said Huskies head coach Josh Floyd. “Again, you want to say that every year, but I really think you’re going to see guys grow up more and more.”
Junior quarterback Peyton Floyd had a dominant night, completing 21-of-28 passes for 290 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed 11 times for 59 yards and two scores. Jaqson Melton tallied 105 yards on just 10 carries, while Kennedy Mitchell added 36 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
“I thought Peyton played well,” Josh Floyd said. “I thought he made some plays. I thought our team played well, our receivers made some plays. I thought we ran the ball better this week, which was a positive. I think we’ve just got to keep getting better every week.”
Hewitt-Trussville, after starting the game with a three-and-out, scored touchdowns on five of its next six drives to take a 33-0 lead into halftime. In that first half, Noah Walls caught a 6-yard touchdown from Peyton Floyd, Floyd rushed for scores on runs of 7 and 1 yard, Mitchell dove in from 1 yard out, and Ka’Darius Barnes hauled in a 12-yard touchdown.
Mitchell added a 14-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter, which was followed on the next drive with an 18-yard strike from Floyd to Brett Moseley. Riley Rigg made a 23-yard field goal to give Hewitt-Trussville a 50-0 lead.
Gabriel Brito made a 40-yard field goal late in the third quarter to put the Titans (0-2) on the board. Matthew Sparks then connected with Khalil Hughley from 5 yards out and Eizele Spears from 10 yards out to trim the deficit to 50-17.
The Huskies got late touchdowns when Jack Ollis connected with Jeremiah Hill from 30 yards out and Zavier Austin ran back a Gadsden City fumble 25 yards for a touchdown.
“I like the fact that we’ve got a lot of guys that can play, some guys that are going to get more and more experience throughout the year,” Josh Floyd said.
For Gadsden City, Sparks finished 11-of-21 for 125 yards and two touchdowns. The Titans totaled just 153 yards of offense.
For the Huskies, Donovan Price grabbed four passes for 90 yards and Jadon Loving caught four passes for 74 yards. Hewitt-Trussville amassed 557 yards of total offense.
Hewitt-Trussville begins Class 7A, Region 3 play next week at home against Oak Mountain (2-0).
“It counts now,” Floyd said. “It all counts. We’ve got to get better. We’re playing Oak Mountain, who we know is going to be a tough team. We’ve had some great battles with them over the years. Had a great hard-fought game with them last year, and we know it’s going to be a challenge.”