Shawn Bowles
Hewitt-Trussville defense swarms JAG during game between Hewitt-Trussville vs JAG on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, at Hewitt-Trussville Stadium. Photo by Shawn Bowles
The Hewitt-Trussville High School football team does not deal with failure all that often. The Huskies are a playoff fixture, heading to the postseason for the sixth straight season this fall. The program has only missed out on the playoffs a handful of times in the last 30 years.
But when the Huskies endure a two-game losing streak, like they did earlier this season after tough losses to Thompson and Prattville, defensive coordinator Sean Talsma and his staff don’t change anything the following week.
“We just get back to basics,” Talsma said. “We pride ourselves on getting our kids to remember what our standard is, and playing to that standard regardless of who the opponent is.”
Talsma has been the defensive coordinator at Hewitt-Trussville since the 2019 season, coming over following a highly successful tenure at powerhouse Clay-Chalkville.
This year’s unit is among the best in Class 7A, pitching a pair of shutouts in the first half of the season. It was going to be a tall task to back up the greatness of the 2024 defense — which was statistically the best in 7A, allowing only 9.5 points per game — but the 2025 version is still tough.
Parker Floyd leads the way in the middle of the defense, starting at linebacker for the third straight year and likely to finish with over 300 career tackles when this season concludes. Woogie Crawford at outside linebacker has been a force this year, including a 17-tackle game against Prattville.
Baasel Alabsi plays along the defensive line and recently committed to UT Martin. D’ante Seals is a force up front for the Huskies as well, and Talsma mentioned Harrison Malone as a steady linebacker who often gets overlooked.
On the back end, guys like Will Phillips, Hayden Chauvin, Caden Ali, Ethan Ridley and Simeon Watson are major contributors, as well.
Talsma loves working for head coach Josh Floyd, who has empowered and trusted Talsma to take care of the defense. Talsma also has a staff of assistants Dylan Haraway, Ben Ramer, Danny Ward, Shaq Jones and a few others who have been key in driving the success of holding opponents’ offenses in check.
The 2025 version of the Huskies has proven to have the potential to make a playoff run. Matchups in the playoffs are always a wild card, but as the saying goes, “defense travels.”
That Hewitt-Trussville defense will be ready to go when the time comes. No matter whether the Huskies are playing an overmatched foe or a top-ranked team, Talsma’s mantra remains consistent.
“I’m going to preach the same thing, the message doesn’t change: no explosives, create turnovers, negative plays and play our best game of the year,” he said.
