By David Knox
Sports Editor
HARVEST — Hewitt-Trussville started slowly in its Class 7A, Region 4 game against the Sparkman Senators.
But after a tight first half, the Huskies scored three third-quarter touchdowns and added another in the fourth to down the pesky Senators 42-14.
Hewitt-Trussville improved to 8-0, 5-0 in the region. Sparkman fell to 3-4, 2-3.
Early though, the third-ranked Huskies couldn’t figure out the Senators’ running game of quarterback Devin Kimbrough and running back Hunter Gibson. The Senators moved down the field on their first drive and Kimbrough finished it off with a 1-yard run. Miles Tillman’s extra point gave the home team a 7-0 lead.
Then, Hewitt’s Elliot McElwain lost the football as he was fighting for extra yards and the Senators recovered.
That gave the Huskies a little bit of fire, and quarterback Connor Adair converted a fourth-and-8 to Christian Stewart to the Senators’ 20. McElwain quickly atoned for his fumble by taking a screen pass from Adair and covering 8 yards for a TD. Parker Colburn’s PAT tied it at 7 with 2:56 left in the first quarter.
A long completion from Adair to Logan Pitts set up McElwain’s second touchdown, a 1-yard run, with 7:04 left till halftime. Colburn’s kick gave Hewitt its first lead, and one it would not give up.
Although the Huskies almost let Sparkman back in the game.
After a defensive stop, the Huskies got the ball with 35.6 left in the half. The hurry-up offense moved Hewitt to the Sparkman 31 with 3.9 seconds left. Colburn’s 47-yard field goal was partially blocked and Avery Phillips picked it up and managed to make it through a muddle of Huskies for some 70 yards and an apparent TD. But the referees spotted a block in the back. Hewitt had to accept the penalty, but an untimed play was awarded to Sparkman. But Kimbrough’s pass was incomplete, so the Huskies took the 14-7 lead to the locker room.
“I didn’t like the way we came out, obviously,” Huskies coach Josh Floyd said. “I think we made too many mistakes. The key was the second half. I thought we came out and played more our brand of football. Sometimes it’s good to be in a tight game like that and I was proud of how we responded.”
The Huskies took the second-half kick and quickly went down the field, with McElwain scoring his third TD, taking in an Adair pass and going 35 yards for the score with 9:30 left in the third quarter. Colburn made it 21-7.
On the Senators’ first possession, the Huskies again were challenged by the running of Kimbrough and Gibson. The the Senators crossed up the defense when Kimbrough found Chase Clinard for a 56-yard TD pass to make it 28-21 with 5:10 left in the third.
The Huskies then really got tolling. Noah Igbinoghene ripped off a 43-yard run to the Sparkman 10 and Grayson Cash bolted the final 10 from the wildcat for a 28-21 lead with 3:58 in the third.
The Huskies got another defensive stop and Cash brought the punt back 22 yards to the Sparkman 40, Cash had a 15-yard run, and Adair, who made several big plays with his feet, converted a thrid-and-9 on a designed keeper up the middle for 11 yards. Adair hooked up with Igbinoghene for a 17-yard score to make it 35-14 with 1:29 left in the quarter.
The Huskies finished off the Spartans early in the fourth. Adair deftly faked the defense then raised up abd drilled a beautiful pass to a streaking Igbinoghene, who then shirked a defender and completed the 77-yard scoring play. Colburn’s sixth PAT made it 42-14 with 8:48 left.
The Huskies got another stop, at midfield with about five minutes to go and they controlled the clock the rest of the way.
The Huskies return home for another region game, hosting Huntsville High on Friday at 7 p.m.
