By David Knox
Sports Editor
HOOVER –Hewitt-Trussville gave a good accounting of itself on the big stage, battling teams from across the state and region in the USA Football 7on7 National Championship Series games recently.
The Huskies went 2-1 in pool play on July 13 and 2-1 in last Friday’s pool play. The 4-2 mark left the Huskies with a No. 11 seeding heading into the championship bracket.
Last Saturday morning Hewitt-Trussville pulled off a big 28-22 win over a Lassiter (Ga.) that had beaten the Huskies in pool play and followed up with a defense-fueled 19-18 victory over Valdosta (Ga.). That placed the Huskies in the round of eight, but Hoover caught all the breaks in a 24-12 win in the quarterfinals.
The Huskies’ overall record was 6-3.
Boiling Springs (S.C.) pulled off the championship upset, beating Hoover 28-17 in the final. Other final eight teams were Thompson (an overtime loser to Hoover), McGill-Toolen, Walton (Ga.), Colquitt County (Ga.) and Har-Ber (Ark.).
“Our guys competed really well,” Huskies coach Josh Floyd said. “I loved our intensity.”
The intensity didn’t seem to be there in last Friday’s round, but the next morning at 9, the Huskies started growling by whipping Lassiter. Lassiter won the pool play game 24-15, a game that really set the Huskies back. But on July 15, quarterback Paul Tyson was sharper in the passing game and receiver Logan Pitts was a major factor in a 28-22 win. The defense held late to settle it, and the defense also rallied the Huskies in the subsequent bracket game against Valdosta, a 19-18 win.
“The second game was one of my favorite games,” Floyd said. “We actually played horribly on offense, but the defense kept making stop after stop and finally our offense gets a chance to go score. That’s what it’s all about, picking each other up, so I was excited about that.”
Hewitt had no chance in the quarterfinal against Hoover, a team it had lost to by a point in Montgomery in the USA Football ALFCA 7on7 Regional Championship. The Bucs got ahead early, and seemingly every good Husky play on defense resulted in a penalty flag, or two. Both teams were talkative, and that chattering turned into shoving after a Bucs score with 5 seconds left. The game ended with an official score of 24-12 at that point.
Floyd and staff will now take what they’ve seen from 7on7 play, work in the weight room and offensive and defensive linemen workouts over the next weeks to evaluate the Huskies.
Fall practice opens Aug. 7. The season gets underway with the Champions Challenge exhibition against Pell City in Montgomery on Aug. 25 and then for real against Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy of Melbourne, Fla., on Sept. 1.
“Guys will have a few days off here, that’ll be good to rest their bodies and then we’re going to be getting after it,” Floyd said. “It’s getting close. Our guys are ready. Seven-on-seven is fun, but it’s obviously not real football. We like to run the football and like to hit.
“We’re ready to get the pads on and go.”
2 Comments
Kathy Sills
GO HUSKIES
Carolyn Morrison Ford
Mush Huskies.