Huskies dominate Tuscaloosa County, win region contest
TRUSSVILLE -- Complete domination.
That is the way Hewitt-Trussville High School head coach Josh Floyd described the Huskies’ 42-7 victory over Class 7A, Region 3 foe Tuscaloosa County on Friday night.
The Hewitt-Trussville offense jumped out to an early lead while the defense simply overwhelmed the Wildcats, only allowing a late touchdown en route to a decisive 35-point victory.
Hewitt-Trussville set the tone on its first drive, as senior quarterback Peyton Floyd led the Huskies methodically downfield on a seven-play, 70-yard drive capped off with a 1-yard touchdown plunge by senior running back Kevin Riley. With just over two minutes played in the game, Hewitt-Trussville was already on the scoreboard, leading 7-0.
On the next two drives, Peyton Floyd established the rhythm through the air, completing all five passes for two touchdowns, both to his top receiver Jadon Loving. With 5:46 to play in the opening quarter, Floyd connected with Loving on a 10-yard score.
After the Huskies defense forced the Wildcats to turn the ball over on downs on their own 32-yard line, Floyd once again connected with Loving on the next play from scrimmage on a beautiful 32-yard fade route with 3:49 to play in the opening frame.
Before fans could finish a first concession stand hotdog, Hewitt-Trussville held a commanding 21-0 lead over Tuscaloosa County.
Floyd continued to impress through the air in the second quarter, tossing two more touchdowns before the end of the first half. Floyd found Jacob Serena in the back of the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown early in the second quarter, then connected with Serena again at the 4:17 mark on a 12-yard strike to extend Hewitt-Trussville’s lead to 35-0.
The Huskies would add one more touchdown before halftime as the defense got into the act. On third down from its own 16-yard line, the Tuscaloosa County quarterback was chased into his end zone, narrowly escaping a sack for a safety before coughing the ball up on the goal line. Senior defensive lineman Mohammed Al Absi pounced on the pigskin for the touchdown, pushing the lead to 42-0.
Floyd was the offensive leader through the air and on the ground in the first half, completing 12-of-13 passes with 163 yards and four touchdowns. He also led all rushers with 71 yards on seven carries. Loving was the leading receiver with 54 yards on three receptions and two touchdowns. Serena had a good night as well, hauling in five passes for 47 yards and two scores.
Floyd and most of the starters saw limited action playing only a handful of snaps in the opening drive of the third quarter before turning it over to the backups.
“They were a lot better than us tonight. They beat us in all phases of the game,” said Tuscaloosa County head coach Adam Winegarden. “It wasn’t anything they did that surprised us schematically, they just outplayed us.”
“We have to learn how to pay in big games,” he added. “We’re not there yet as a program and we had an opportunity tonight to prove that we could play in a big game, and that’s on me as a coach.”
Hewitt-Trussville has now won three games in a row following its opening-week loss to Central-Phenix City. Josh Floyd said the Huskies put together a complete game over Tuscaloosa County, dominating on both sides of the ball.
“I thought defensively they played really well. I think they dominated up front and they didn’t have many first downs in the first half,” said Floyd. “I thought they set the tone defensively early.”
“I thought we were pretty effective offensively tonight as well. I’m proud of the way our guys played,” Floyd added. “It’s hard to put up 42 points in a half, especially in a region game.”
With the win, Hewitt-Trussville improves to 3-1, 2-0 in region play. The Huskies will travel to face region rival Hoover High School next Friday, September 23.
Check out all of our high school football photos from this week.