By Justin Nails, Trussville Tribune Sports
TRUSSVILLE –It’s been almost thirty years since a Hewitt-Trussville football player has made headlines when it comes to Alabama football. Not since quarterback Jay Barker has Hewitt-Trussville had a coveted player sign with Alabama.
Zero Huskies have signed in the Nick Saban era. Not that it matters to Saban, who regularly signs the best college football has to offer no matter where they come from. The goal is to get the best players and he regularly does that. Nevertheless, the state of Alabama was only represented by two players in the 2018 recruiting class.
That’s all about to change, a change headed up by two high profiled Hewitt-Trussville players.
Six of the 12 hard commits from the 2019 class are from the state of Alabama. Two of those players will be seniors as Hewitt-Trussville come this Fall. Husky offensive lineman Pierce Quick, the lone 5-star commit as of now, and 4-Star quarterback Paul Tyson will break a 29-year spell and be the first two Huskies to sign with Alabama since Barker back in 1990.
According to 247Sports, Quick is the 26th ranked player overall in the 2019 class, the fifth ranked player at his position, and the second ranked player in the state of Alabama. Tyson, who has gained national attention as the great-grandson of Alabama coaching legend Paul “Bear” Bryant, is a 4-star quarterback who is ranked by 247Sports as the 286th overall player, 12th at the quarterback position, and ranked 11th in the state.
Quick and Tyson weighed in on what it means to be able to represent Hewitt-Trussville at Alabama.
Quick was amazed at the stat of being the first Husky to commit under Saban. “Wow, that’s an incredible stat. I hadn’t even thought about that” he said.
Quick has grown up in Trussville his entire life and he understands the feeling and the pride that comes with playing at Alabama. “It’s an awesome feeling, getting to represent Hewitt-Trussville and Alabama. Growing up an Alabama fan, going to games, it gives you a sense of pride knowing you’ll be one of them. And with so many Alabama fans here in Trussville, I know they’ll be there to cheer me on.”
Even though Tyson transferred into Hewitt-Trussville, he still has a unique bond with the school and its history as he grew up friends with Braxton Barker, the son of Jay Barker.
“I always looked up to Mr. Barker” Tyson said. “Knowing that I’ll be the next Husky quarterback to possibly play at Alabama and following in his footsteps is a really cool feeling.”
On representing Hewitt-Trussville, Tyson echoed what Quick said, “Its a huge honor, the fans here that are also fans of Alabama now know they have some alumni that will play in Tuscaloosa.”
Along with Quick and Tyson, Hewitt-Trussville WR Dazalin Worsham is also a 2020 Bama commit. Insiders believe the Huskies’ junior Malachi Moore, the state’s top rated defensive back in the class of 2020, is a Crimson Tide target as well.
And who better to head up the recruiting efforts at Hewitt-Trussville than one of their own in Alabama offensive line coach Brent Key who went on to play collegiately at Georgia Tech.
It truly is a family affair and now for the first time in almost 30 years, Trussville residents will have some of their own representing them in Tuscaloosa.