By Justin Nails
Tribune Sports
TRUSSVILLE— Region 3 just got a little more interesting on Friday night as the Mountain Brook Spartans came away with a huge region win on the road at Hewitt-Trussville. The Spartans controlled the clock and rallied behind a strong run game to pull out a 20-17 win against the Huskies.
Mountain Brook marched right down the field on the opening kickoff thanks to big runs by quarterback Strother Gibbs and AJ Gates to put the Spartans up 3-0 early in the first quarter. The 10-play, 80-yard drive took almost five minutes off the clock in the first quarter as the Spartans attempted just one pass in their opening drive.
The Huskies similarly had early success on their first drive as they countered the Spartans drive with an 8-play, 59-yard drive that ended on an incomplete pass on fourth down. The Huskies defense gave the offense some help as the very first play of the Spartans second drive ended in an interception by Husky defensive back Creed Parker. Six plays later, Armoni Goodwin scores on a 1-yard run to give the Huskies the lead 7-3.
Mountain Brook went back to their run game as they ate up the reminder of the first quarter and into the second quarter before Sam Higgins broke off a 24-yard touchdown run to cap off a seven-play, 80-yard scoring drive to take back the lead at 10-7. Both teams swapped punts before the Huskies drove nearly the entire field before Paul Tyson threw an interception that gave the Spartans the ball back on their own 17.
Two plays later, AJ Gates gashed the Husky defense for an 80-yard touchdown run to give Mountain Brook a 17-7 lead going into the half.
Hewitt-Trussville came out of the gate in the second half firing on all cylinders as they took the second half kickoff down to the Spartans one yard line on 17 plays before the Spartans denied the Huskies a touchdown by holding them three straight plays and forcing the Huskies to settle on a field goal, Mountain Brook remained in the lead 17-10.
Again Mountain Brook would answer as they ran off the remaining five minutes off the third quarter clock and into the fourth quarter before adding a 20-yard field goal to extend their lead to 20-10.
The Huskies again answered with their backs against the wall with a 10-play 80-yard drive capped off with another Goodwin touchdown drive, this time from two yards out. With six minutes to go in the game, the Huskies now only trailed 20-17.
The Spartans last drive proved to be the nail in the coffin as twice the Huskies had Mountain Brook stopped on third down and twice were hit with unsportsmanlike conduct penalties that gave the Spartans first downs, keeping the drive alive and allowing the Spartans to run the clock out. The Spartans even gave Hewitt-Trussville one last gift as the Spartans fumbled deep in their own territory, giving the Huskies one last drive. The Huskies failed to convert even one first down on the drive, turning the ball over on downs.
Huskies running back Armoni Goodwin finished with 85 yards rushing and two touchdowns on the day. Mountain Brook running back AJ Gates finished his day with 130 yards rushing and one touchdown.
Speaking with head coach Josh Floyd after the game, he said the time of possession was a huge factor. “They did a great job of eating the clock, getting three or four yards each run helped too. Then they had the big touchdown run at the end of the half as well. You take that run off the board and they didn’t have a lot of big plays on the day but they did a good job of holding onto the ball.”
The loss puts the Huskies at 6-2 on the season with two crucial region games left. The Huskies host Tuscaloosa County next Friday.