By Joshua Huff, sports editor
TRUSSVILLE — Hewitt-Trussville High School outside linebacker Landen Berguson was invited to participate in the 2021 Hawaii Tiki Bowl scheduled for the end of 2020 in Honolulu.
The honor follows a junior season where in which Berguson recorded 73 total tackles (38 solo, 35 assisted) with one sack, three tackles for a loss and one fumble recovery in 10 games played. Berguson finished the season fourth on the team in total tackles.
The Hawaii Tiki Bowl bills itself as one of the nation’s top senior all-star games in Hawaii. The opportunity affords players a chance to play at Aloha Stadium and “play the great game of football one last time with lifetime friends.”
Per the Hawaii Tiki Bowl, the event allows players to play in a high school senior all-star game, meet college coaches and is a great pre-college experience and a world class senior trip. In addition to football, players will be able to tour Hawaii and explore Waikiki, one of the world’s most famous beaches.
The event is scheduled to run from Dec. 30, 2020, though Jan. 4, 2021. Athletes from all across the country have been invited to participate. Each team will consist of 35 players with two college coaches.
In the meantime, Berguson will return for one last run at the high school level with a Hewitt-Trussville football team poised to return to the top of Class 7A following an injury-plagued 2019 campaign. Behind a defense that returns seven of the 10 top tacklers on the team, the Huskies are expected to add to this past season’s strong defensive performance. In seven region games played in 2019, Hewitt-Trussville allowed the fifth fewest points on the season in Class 7A, Region 3 (Hoover, Mountain Brook and Hewitt-Trussville were separated by just seven total points).