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Dan Busey/TimesDaily
Hewitt-Trussville’s Peyton Floyd (7) finds some room in Florence’s defense as he carries for a touchdown during the second half of their game Friday at Braly Stadium in Florence. [DAN BUSEY/TIMESDAILY]
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Dan Busey/TimesDaily
Hewitt-Trussville’s Jaqson Melton (32) slips past Florence’s Javarius Abernathy (3) during the second half of their game Friday at Braly Stadium in Florence. [DAN BUSEY/TIMESDAILY]
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Dan Busey/TimesDaily
Hewitt-Trussville’s Peyton Floyd (7) gets a high-five by the ball-boy after his touchdown against Florence during the second half of their game Friday at Braly Stadium in Florence. [DAN BUSEY/TIMESDAILY]
FLORENCE – It was spectacular at times and a grind at others. In the end, it was a 38-20 win for Hewitt-Trussville High School in a Class 7A playoff game over Florence at Braly Stadium.
“Good, hard-fought game,” said Hewitt-Trussville head coach Josh Floyd, whose team advances to play Hoover next week. “We almost pulled away, just couldn’t quite do it. You look up and it’s 31-20, they got the ball with a chance to cut it to a one-score game. I was proud of our kids. They found a way to win. Playoff football, you just try to find a way to get to the next game.”
Quarterback Peyton Floyd threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more in the victory. He threw for 165 yards and rushed for 116 yards in the win. Running back Jaqson Melton led the running game with 145 yards on 21 bruising carries.
Floyd had three touchdown passes and a touchdown run by halftime. At one point, it looked like the Huskies’ first drive might take the entire half. The Huskies took the opening kickoff and held the ball for 18 plays, covering 85 yards. Twice, they had to convert on fourth down with both coming on Floyd runs. Eventually, the drive ended on a 17-yard pass from Floyd to Donovan Price.
That set the tone for a first half that included 144 passing yards and 123 rushing yards for Hewitt-Trussville.
“You’re right, I thought it did set the tone for us,” Josh Floyd said. “It was a long drive. It seemed like we got a lot of third-and-1, fourth-and-1. They were trying to keep stuff in front of them. It was one of games we had to earn every stinking yard.”
Florence answered the opening drive, though, with a 12-play, 64-yard drive that ended on a 3-yard touchdown run by quarterback Leo Glover. Hewitt-Trussville with a pair of touchdowns sandwiched around a three-and-out by the Falcons. The touchdowns came on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Floyd to Brett Moseley and a 12-yard scoring run by Floyd.
The Falcons cut into the deficit with some help from the Huskies. Florence drove near midfield but the drive stalled and the Falcons. However, a roughing the punter extended the drive and Glover found University of Alabama commit Jahlil Hurley for a 35-yard touchdown with 1:03 left in the half.
After the kickoff, Hewitt-Trussville was 88 yards away from the end zone with 55 seconds on the clock. The Huskies only needed 52 seconds to pad the lead to 28-13 at halftime. The touchdown came on a 16-yard pass from Floyd to Moseley.
“I thought scoring right before the half was big,” Floyd said.
The Huskies extended the lead to 31-13 on a Riley Rigg field goal early in the fourth quarter. Florence wasn’t done. The Falcons scored on a 62-yard pass from Glover to Hurley with just over nine minutes remaining, cutting the deficit to 31-20, and got the ball back just past midfield about four minutes later.
It appeared that Florence pulled within a score four play later, when Jaylen Simpson wiggled free for a 31-yard touchdown. But the play was called back by a holding penalty and Hewitt-Trussville defensive end Hunter Osborne recovered a fumble on the next play. The Huskies put the game out of reach on a 6-yard touchdown run by Floyd.
Hewitt-Trussville will travel to play Hoover in the second round of the playoffs next week. The Bucs knocked off the Huskies 17-7 in their regular season meeting.
