Huskies rally, fall short at Thompson
ALABASTER – Key plays in a football game can swing momentum one way or the other.
There were plenty of those to be found on Friday night at Warrior Stadium, with Thompson High School making just a few more than Hewitt-Trussville to win 14-12 in a Class 7A, Region 3 contest.
Hewitt-Trussville (4-3, 2-2 in region) rose to the occasion after being down to its last breath. The Huskies took the ball at their own 20-yard line after being on the fortunate side of a Thompson missed field goal.
The Huskies marched 80 yards on 13 plays, scoring on quarterback Peyton Floyd’s 4-yard run with 1:37 to play to cut the deficit to two points. Unfortunately, the two-point pass play was broken up, effectively ending the game.
“That was a great drive,” Hewitt-Trussville head coach Josh Floyd said following the game. “I obviously wish we would’ve made the two-point conversion to take it to overtime, but I think it does say something about our kids.”
Thompson (5-2, 4-0) extended its lead to 14-6 after Anquon Fegans stepped in front of a pass and tight-roped his way down the sideline for a 36-yard pick six on the first play of the fourth quarter. Hewitt was forced to punt on its next possession and Thompson missed the field goal to set up the late drive.
Hewitt-Trussville took control of the game in the first half, but felt it left some points on the field. Nick Hill recovered a fumble to give the Huskies the ball in the first quarter, a drive which yielded the first of two Riley Rigg field goals. His first one gave his team a 3-0 edge late in the first quarter.
The Huskies drove down the field on their next drive, narrowly missing out on a touchdown that would have put them up double digits. Instead, they had to settle for a 22-yard field goal by Rigg to make it 6-0.
A Rickey Gibson interception in the end zone and a key sack from Braylon Chatman allowed Hewitt-Trussville to maintain that edge heading into halftime.
Hewitt-Trussville nearly struck again, as a pooch kick to begin the third quarter was recovered by Alijah Gardner, but Thompson’s Jacary McCurry recovered a fumble to thwart the drive.
The Warriors took their first lead on the ensuing drive, as Zach Sims dropped a perfect pass into the arms of Korbyn Williams for a 49-yard touchdown. That play accounted for nearly half of Sims’ production, as he finished 8-of-18 for 104 yards.
Kelby Taylor picked off a Floyd pass and the teams exchanged punts to wrap up the third quarter, before Fegans’ big play gave Thompson a 14-6 lead early in the fourth.
All of those key plays amounted to a narrow Thompson win.
“We’re right there,” Josh Floyd said. “We had opportunities and we didn’t take advantage of them. We’ve got to bounce back and get better.”
Josh Floyd remarked how proud he was of his team for its effort Friday night. An injury to key right tackle Kade Martin forced the likes of Hunter Osborne and Jordan Sherman to play plenty of snaps on both sides of the ball throughout the game.
“Hunter Osborne played a lot of snaps on offense tonight,” Floyd said. “That’s hard on someone in the trenches. I’m really proud of him. That’s an effort that not a lot of kids could do.”
Peyton Floyd finished the night 19-of-31 passing for 174 yards. He also carried the ball 24 times for 76 yards, oftentimes embracing big hits in order to get extra yardage.
Jadon Loving was Floyd’s top target, snagging nine passes for 70 yards. Jacob Serena made several big plays as well, going for 65 yards on six catches.
Hewitt-Trussville has another key region game next Friday, as the Huskies host Vestavia Hills. Thompson hosts Oak Mountain.