By David Knox
Sports Editor
TRUSSVILLE – The Hewitt-Trussville Huskies arguably won the line of scrimmage on offense and defense. They won the kicking game.
And some newcomers, in the absence of several key players who are still in baseball uniforms, won a closer look for fall playing time.
But if the scoreboard matters, Minor took home the victory over the homestanding Huskies, 26-20 in the spring football game Thursday night at Hewitt-Trussville Stadium.
The culprit – besides the aforementioned missing players who’ll be playing for a Class 7A baseball championship this weekend in Montgomery – was turnovers. Several of those were in the red zone and led to touchdown drives for the Class 6A visitors from Adamsville.
Connor Adair, the Mountain Brook transfer who is in the mix to be the starting quarterback, had a good night throwing the ball, hooking up with Antonio Reed and Elliott McElwain for touchdowns. But he threw an interception also, near midfield, that resulted in a Minor TD. McElwain and Reed had many good moments running the ball, but Reed fumbled twice in the red zone, once stripped by a Tenacious Tiger who hauled it all the way back to the HT 5 before Noah Igbinoghene chased him down. Alas, Minor scored on the next play for a two-touchdown swing that decided the game.
Parker Colburn knocked home a pair of field goals and two extra points and was solid on kickoffs.
Receivers Logan Pitts, Christian Stewart and Igbinoghene also had some big plays.
Minor’s best offensive threats came on the edge, where Jayland Adams did big damage with his speed and elusiveness. Quarterback Jacure Jackson caused problems with his size, at 6-5, and a strong arm.
But without the generosity of the hosts, this one was Hewitt-Trussville’s.
Minor took a 6-3 lead late into the first half before Colburn kicked a 26-yard field goal with 1:06 before intermission.
Reed scored on an 11-yard run with 8:28 to play in the third quarter to give the Huskies a 13-12 lead, with Colburn’s PAT, their first of the game.
But Minor answered to take a 20-13 lead on a Jackson run with about seven minutes left in the quarter, the last one the varsities would play..
Hewitt, ever resilient, answered with one more score, a 15-yard TD pass from Adair to McElwain with 2:21 to go set up by a nice Igbinoghene run.
The Tigers took the kick, however, and managed to kill the clock.