By David Knox
Sports Editor
TRUSSVILLE – Bitter. Heartbreaking. Gut-wrenching.
You pick the adjective.
It still wouldn’t be enough to describe the quarterfinal loss the Hewitt-Trussville Huskies suffered Friday night to Gadsden City at Hewitt-Trussville Stadium.
A 12-point fourth-quarter lead evaporated and the Huskies, riding a perfect 11-0 season and seemingly on the way to a showdown with Hoover in the Class 7A semifinals, saw perhaps the best season in school history end with a 29-28 loss to the Titans (7-5).
The Huskies had beaten Gadsden City 28-14 on Sept. 2, and seemed on the way to another win over the Titans. But Gadsden City won its sixth straight game and seventh of eighth since starting the season 0-4. Titans coach Matt Scott had a good game plan – run the ball and keep the Huskies off the field. It was effective. Hewitt had just three first half possessions as they held a narrow 14-13 lead at half. They had just five in the second half – a three-and-out, two TDs, a drive that resulted in a blocked field goal, and a drive that ended on the Gadsden 37 that ended on downs and sealed the Huskies’ fate. But even that would not have been enough if not for the blocked field goal – which came after what one could only term a generous no-call on defensive holding or pass interference – a fumbled kickoff return, and a fourth-and-12 conversion by the Titans for a TD pass with 3:10 to play.
“The best way to stop our offense is to not let us have the ball,” said Huskies coach Josh Floyd. “They did a good job eating the clock and made a ton of plays on us. It’s the quarterfinals of the state playoffs; you can’t make the mistakes like we made. We had the lead in the fourth quarter, that’s the thing that is so sickening about it. We had a chance to go down there and score, got the penalty that pushed us back, we didn’t get the first down and had the field goal blocked and that changed the game. “I’m so proud of them. I hate it to end this way for the seniors. It’s sickening right now. I’m super proud of them, they’ve done things that have never been done here before. It’s just tough way for it to end.”
Grayson Cash scored a pair of touchdowns, on runs of 12 and 27 yards. Connor Adair hooked up with Logan Pitts for a 50-yard TD pass. Elliott McElwain burst for a 36-yard TD run with 11:44 left that gave Hewitt a 28-16 lead that seemed at the time to seal the deal. When a fake punt try by Gadsden City failed with 9:38 to go, it seemed the Titans were done. But the blocked field goal on the Huskies’ drive set the Titans up at the Hewitt 34 and three plays later Ryan Sparks hit Jamontavious Woods for a 26-yard TD. The Pat made it 28-23 with 5:53 to go.
McElwain returned the kickoff nicely, but was stripped and the Titans recovered at the Hewitt 27. After David Acfalle and Simon Miskelley knocked Jaelyn Fleming for a big loss, on fourth-and-12 from the Hewitt 15, Sparks found Damon Williams in the end zone for a tough catch and a score. The two-point try failed, but Gadsden City led 29-28 with 3:10 to play. The Huskies moved the ball on a 13-yard run by Cash and a 13-yard Adair-to-Cash pass, but on fourth-and-2 from the Titans 37, Adair was pressured and his pass fell short. The Titans ran out the clock to take the win and set up a semifinal match with Hoover, which beat James Clemens.