By Joshua Huff, sports editor
HOOVER — Hewitt-Trussville scored 14 consecutive points to begin the lightning-delayed matchup between region foe Hoover on Friday before a series of turnovers, and a resurgent Buccaneers’ defense, overwhelmed the Huskies in what became the first loss for Hewitt-Trussville this season, 28-14.
Hewitt-Trussville slipped to 3-1 (1-1 in Class 7A Region 3) while Hoover bounced back from a week three loss against Thompson to improve to (3-1) (1-1).
“We made too many mistakes,” Hewitt-Trussville head coach Josh Floyd said. “We gave them two easy ones. They scored two touchdowns on our defense. We have to be able to win football games when you hold their offense to 14 points. We’ve got to do a better job.”
The two-touchdown differential is not indicative of how this game actually played out. From the onset, the momentum swung the Huskies’ way. After an impressive opening kickoff return, Hewitt-Trussville marched right down the field and scored on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Cade Ott Carruth to Omari Kelly. Minutes later, Carruth and Kelly hooked up again, this time on a 7-yard touchdown pass with seven minutes left in the first quarter.
As one unknown Hoover fan said, “Golly, I thought we were toast.”
Hoover threatened deep in the redzone late in the first quarter, but the Hewitt-Trussville defense stood stout and forced a turnover on downs from the Huskies’ 7-yard line. Riding a crest of momentum before a lively crowd at the Hoover Met, Hewitt-Trussville strutted into the second quarter before the rug was yanked out from under them and life reared its ugly head.
Life’s message: nothing lasts forever.
Hewitt-Trussville’s response: message received.
Hoover wasted little time in chipping away at that lead. It jumped on the board to begin the second quarter on a Carruth interception. Soon thereafter, Carruth coughed up another interception that was returned for yet another touchdown. And just like, the Buccaneers evened the game at 14-all.
“They’re good on defense,” Floyd said.
Hoover was not done gleaning all it could from that bountiful second quarter. The Bucs pulled ahead late in the first half after a 6-yard touchdown catch from Malik Thomas. Just like that the score was 21-14.
The second half proved to be just as unsightly as the second quarter for the Huskies. With their star running back out for the season, Armoni Goodwin, and their starting quarterback out, Seth Shelnutt, the offense showed little pop against a Buc defense that expected nothing less than a steady dose of Sean Jackson.
Ironically, Jackson himself ended up injured. He managed to cobble together 61 yards on 10 rushes. Carruth finished the night 14-of-22 for 97 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.
The third quarter came and went with nothing of importance occurring. The Huskies did force a three-and-out to begin the second half, but nothing came of it. The fourth quarter is when things became interesting.
Hoover had the ball on a manageable third and 18 early in the fourth. It decided, like any logical team would, to throw deep hoping to convert. The Bucs, however, threw it to the wrong team as Jackson Holland flew in and gathered in the interception. And as the football gods dictated, the proceeding drive amounted to nothing.
In the final three quarters, the Huskies managed just 76 yards of offense.
The Bucs would seal the deal late in the fourth quarter when Dylan Betts Pauley punched it in from 7 yards on fourth and 1 to go up 28-14.
“It’s a sign of a good football team when you bounce back after a tough one,” Floyd said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys. We have sophomores starting all over the place. It is what it is. We’ve got to bounce back from this, learn from it and come back next week.”
