By David Knox
Sports Editor
The Hewitt-Trussville Huskies, ranked No. 4 in the state by the Alabama Sports Writers Association and No. 21 in the country by USA Today, head down the stretch run in search of a second straight region title.
Tonight the unbeaten Huskies face the improved Sparkman Senators.
Josh Floyd’s team (6-0, 4-0 in Class 7A, Region 4) took care of business in Madison last Friday, beating then-10th-ranked Bob Jones 52-18, jumping out to a 35-6 halftime lead and holding off the Patriots, who were tied with Hewitt atop the region at the time.
Now, three teams are tied for second in the region: Sparkman, Bob Jones and Gadsden City, all at 3-1. One of the latter two teams will emerge at 4-1 and the other at 3-2 after the Pats and the Titans meet tonight in Gadsden. Either way, the Huskies will hold the tiebreaker since they own wins over both.
The Huskies can grab the tiebreaker over Sparkman and drop the Senators (5-1, 3-1) two games back with two to play tonight.
A loss to the Senators would put Sparkman and Hewitt at 4-1 — with Sparkman holding the tiebreaker if they end the season tied. Sparkman will still have to play Gadsden City and Grissom, while Hewitt still has Huntsville and James Clemens ahead.
So there’s a lot on the line Friday night at Husky Field.
Hewitt-Trussville was again rolling offensively against Bob Jones, getting a huge performance from quarterback Paul Tyson. The junior was 28-of-36 passing for a season-high 345 yards, five touchdowns and he also ran for a score. He connected with Logan Pitts and Lee Reagan for two touchdowns apiece and tossed another one to running back Antonio Reed.
For the year, Tyson is 108-for-148 passing for 1,477 yards and 17 touchdowns with just one interception.
Elliott McElwain had 66 yards rushing on 15 carries and one score. Cameron Bledsoe added 65 yards on 15 tries.
Defensively, linebacker Simon Kiskelley was superb, racking up 16 tackles, including two for losses. Tyler Antkowiak had six stops, two for losses, and blocked a field goal. Trevor Sisk had nine tackles, Creed Parker had eight stops, intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble. T.J. Alexander also recovered a fumble.
The Patriots did manage 344 yards of total offense, a good deal of it on the ground. Pats quarterback Caden Rose rushed for 118 yards and Isaiah Hatchett added 70. Rose added 79 yards through the air.
The Huskies will face another tough dual-threat quarterback in Sparkman’s Devin Kimbrough. Kimbrough rushed for two touchdowns and passed for a third in a win over Huntsville last week.
Sparkman, under new coach Laron White has seemed to turn it around in a hurry. The Senators haven’t had a winning season since 2006, when they last won the region and made the playoffs. A 10-year playoff drought may be coming to an end under the veteran coach, who took Tanner to the Class 2A championships in 2012 and 2013 and has a 153-31 record all-time.
Down the road, just what will White be able to do at the big Madison County school, the third largest school in the state?
Sparkman is catching fire, but can it pull off the upset? We don’t think so.
Josh Floyd and the Huskies know what’s at stake, and they’re still hungry themselves.
Tribune prediction: Hewitt-Trussville 49, Sparkman 21.
Center Point at Pinson Valley
After a narrow overtime escape over Shades Valley and an open date, Class 6A’s third-ranked Pinson Valley adjusts to another week without star quarterback Bo Nix.
The Indians (6-0, 3-0 Region 6) have never started a season 7-0.
Barry White stepped in at quarterback against Shades Valley and manufactured a last-minute drive and tossed a TD pass to LiAllen Dailey in OT. The Indians allowed a TD, but stopped a 2-point conversion to stay unbeaten.
In practice since, defensive back Jackie Matthews, who started at quarterback for most of the past three seasons, has seen work there as well.
Nix, with a fractured ankle, is expected back, maybe before the playoffs, maybe by round one.
This week, against Center Point, it shouldn’t matter who takes the snaps. The Eagles, still winless at 0-7, have scored just one TD in the four games since Kelvin Cole was injured. Their last program win is now more than two calendar years ago.
Tribune prediction: Pinson Valley 41, Center Point 0
Clay-Chalkville at Carver, 7 p.m., Saturday, Carver Stadium
Clay-Chalkville overwhelmed Gardendale and now takes on the physical Rams of Carver in a rare Saturday tilt.
Coach Drew Gilmer’s Cougars (6-1, 3-1 Region 6) were dominant on both sides of the ball last week. Carver can match that defensively, perhaps, but the Rams (5-1, 2-1) haven’t shown that offensively yet. Their 21-14 win over Minor has put them in a good spot to make the playoffs with Jasper and Pinson Valley yet to play. They have allowed just 68 points this season — but they’ve only played 5A and 4A schools except for their region games.
And the way defensive coordinator Sean Talsma has his unit playing, we can’t see the Cougars giving up many points here.
The Cougars — which should be ranked in the ASWA Top 10 — have too much for Carver barring something unforeseen.
Tribune prediction: Clay-Chalkville 20, Carver 0
John Carroll Catholic at Springville
The Springville Tigers capitalized on turnovers and the arm of Austin Hutcheson to rally from a 20-0 halftime deficit to beat Hayden 21-20.
John Carroll (2-5 overall in Class 6A, Region 5) has beaten Hayden and Moody.
Springville is starting to build a little momentum, gain confidence and put some points on the board. We’re going out on a limb in this non-region game and riding with the Tigers.
Tribune prediction: Springville 14, John Carroll 13
Last week’s predictions: 3-1
Season’s record: 27-4 (87.1%)