By David Knox
Sports Editor
TRUSSVILLE – There were a few doubters when Connor Adair transferred back to Hewitt-Trussville after spending his first years of high school at Mountain Brook High.
Adair had been the starting quarterback for the Spartans but was injured during his junior year.
Someone had to replace Zac Thomas, a highlight-reel dual-threat quarterback off to Appalachian State, but would it be Davis Burgin, Grey Ryle, Jordan Long – all playing for a baseball championship during spring football practice – or the more pocket-passing Adair? At 6-foot-4, Adair had the size, but he would be a different kind of quarterback than Huskies fans were used to.
Over the summer, however, it became clear that Adair had grasped the offense and was in command. His technique was sharp, his arm was plenty strong, and he made good decisions.
That transferred to the regular season, as he put up some of the best numbers in the state, and those numbers translated into an 11-1 season for the Huskies and helped Connor Adair earn our Offensive Player of the Year honors.
“When he came in January I could tell he was a real sharp kid,” coach Josh Floyd said, “and he picked up the offense very quickly. He concentrated on becoming the best quarterback he could be. He just sold out from January to May, had a great spring and a great summer in 7-on-7.
“The two biggest things for him are he’s extremely accurate and extremely smart. You can’t measure the smart, but he just really understood our offense. He could make every single throw that we needed him to make. Set a school record for touchdown passes, broke Brandon Cox’s record, and he was a great player here and at Auburn, so that’s special.”
He went 198-of-288 passing for a percentage of 68.8, 2,739 yards and 30 touchdowns. He threw just five interceptions and added two rushing touchdowns. He accounted for 2,774 yards of total offense. Those numbers led to a school-record 552 points and 5,952 yards of total offense.
His 2,739 yards passing is second in school history to Cox’s 2001 season of 2,887, according to statistics provided by the AHSAA. Cox had 27 TDs and passed about 50 more times.
Adair commanded the offense and utilized the many weapons he was blessed with. Eleven different Huskies caught passes and six caught TD passes.
It started with a 27-of-34 performance for 340 yards and two touchdowns in the opener against Montgomery Bell. He followed that with another solid performance in the record-smashing 78-56 win over Manatee, 17-of-24 for 281 yards and four TDs. He put up 29-of-44 passes for 324 yards and three TDs in the 21-20 win over James Clemens, which sealed the perfect regular season.
There was plenty of competition for the Offensive Player of the Year honors. Teammates Grayson Cash and Noah Igbinoghene, Pinson Valley’s Khymel Chaverst and Clay-Chalkville’s Nico Collins would all have been good choices.
But as Floyd said, and as we have seen from Auburn’s ordeal, when running this system, it’s the quarterback who makes it click. And Hewitt-Trussville’s offense clicked like no other Huskies offense ever had. That’s why Connor Adair is our Offensive Player of the Year.
3 Comments
River Farley
I don’t honestly know why anyone doubted him. He was originally from trussville and led trussvilles little league teams to several championships. He’s played with most of these guys before…
Shannon Harris
This young man was by far the best passer I saw all year. Glad he was able to finish his high school career where is heart was. Great job mom and dad. You did great!!!!!
Barry Bruce
Is he leaning towards a College team?