By Ben Culpepper
The Hewitt-Trussville High School football team lost several key contributors to graduation from last year’s 8-3 squad, but none were more important than quarterback Carr Tigner.
“With Carr, when he walked into the huddle, we knew we were going to be OK.” Head coach Hal Riddle said.
While Riddle was quick to praise Tigner’s athletic ability and leadership, he was equally as quick to anoint senior Sam Miller as his new man under center.
“Well, the mix is Sam Miller is the quarterback.” Riddle said when asked who was in contention to be the starting quarterback this season.
Miller will enter his first year as the starter with some valuable experience under his belt and the support of his teammates
.
“As a 10th grader, against Oxford, Sam came in and led our team down the field to score to help us win the game. He is a kid that the team likes and is well-known from playing basketball and baseball.” Riddle said.
Riddle pointed out that Miller had the advantage of growing up in a football family, having had two older brothers who have played at Hewitt-Trussville in the past.
“He just knows football.” Riddle said when describing his quarterback’s football saavy.
Riddle admitted that last year his offense was more “QB-run heavy” at times, but his goal for this season is to be as balanced as possible.
“I would love to play 15 games, win a championship, and look back at the stats and see that we ran fifty percent of the time and threw fifty percent of the time. But that’s hard to do.”
While the competition for the starting job has clearly been decided, the battle to backup Miller is heating up. Junior Clayton Speed and sophomore Jarrett Nelson are currently competing for the job.
“They are both in the mix. I would like to see over the next two weeks how they both react to live action.” Riddle said.
