By Gary Lloyd
TRUSSVILLE — This is a classic matchup of old school vs. new school.
Vestavia Hills will travel to Hewitt-Trussville’s Jack Wood Stadium on Friday for a Class 7A, Region 3 game. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
The head man roaming the sidelines for the Rebels is Buddy Anderson, who is tied with Waldon Tucker as the winningest high school football coach in the history of the state. Both have 309 career wins. Tucker coached from 1973 to 2010 at Demopolis Academy, Gordo and Fayette County.
Hewitt-Trussville defensive back JaRon Godbolt goes through a drill this summer.
file photo by Ron Burkett
Anderson has been the Vestavia Hills head coach since 1978, and his program hasn’t had a losing season since 1991, when first-year Hewitt-Trussville head coach Josh Floyd was not even walking the hallways of a high school as a student.
Vestavia Hills (1-1) returns just five starters on offense and four on defense from a team that reached the Class 6A semifinals last season. One of those starters, though, is quarterback Landon Crowder, who had a solid season a year ago. The Rebels’ biggest weapon from a season ago, running back Jordan Johnson, is gone due to graduation but Carter Jacobs and Christian Palmer offer a nice one-two punch.
Vestavia Hills has struggled offensively through two games, combining for just 24 points in a win against Homewood and overtime loss at Oak Mountain last week.
Hewitt-Trussville is also 1-1 and has struggled the most with penalties thus far. The offense has been fairly solid considering how new the system still is.
Friday will be a historic night at Jack Wood Stadium if the Rebels come out on top. For Hewitt-Trussville to delay Anderson making history, it will need to limit mistakes and keep the Rebels’ defense on its heels by running a fast, efficient offense. Don’t expect a ton of points for either team in this game, and expect a key play down the stretch — maybe a turnover — to be the difference.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.
