By Bobby Mathews, sports editor
TRUSSVILLE — The final score said it all: 41-0. The 7A No. 4-ranked Hewitt-Trussville Huskies made an emphatic statement against a good Saraland team on Friday night, balling out on both sides of the ball. That’s why the Huskies are The Tribune’s Team of the Week.
File photo by Ron Burkett
The Huskies looked dominant on defense, causing five turnovers and holding the Spartans to 147 total yards. Justice Finkley and Hunter Osborne scored back-to-back sacks and soaked up blockers to let senior Jamarion “Bam” White make plays from his linebacker position.
“Saraland is a really good offense,” Hewitt-Trussville head coach Josh Floyd said after the victory. “They have some big weapons. We contained them somewhat. Our defense played incredible, and we’re really proud of them.”
The stop unit allowed only six first downs for the entire game. Senior defensive back Connor Thomas nabbed an interception, Finkley recovered a fumble, White got a turnover, and so did Rickey Gibson and Hunter Jones. By the end of the night, the Huskies had recovered five turnovers. and the Hewitt-Trussville went home 2-0 heading into a road game against Spain Park next week.
For a little while, it looked like Saraland would cause some problems. The Spartans took advantage of their read-pass-option scheme to hit the inside slant for some big plays. But once the defensive line got that big push to put the Saraland quarterback under pressure, the Huskies secured the shutout victory.
Cade Ott Carruth was 13-for-24, for 260 yards, with two huge touchdown passes to Omari Kelly for scores. One of those touchdowns, a 64-yard bomb with a little more than 10 minutes to play in the third quarter, appeared to be a catalyst for the Huskies, as they scored twice more in the quarter to put the game securely out of reach of the Spartans.
James Hammonds barely missed the century mark on the ground, toting the rock 16 times for 98 yards and a touchdown, while Thomas rushed for 50 yards on five carries with two touchdowns as a change of pace from Hammonds.
The Tribune’s Team of the Week is sponsored by Courtesy Buick GMC.
Also considered this week: Leeds High School, which shut out Pell City 17-0 with a dominant showing, totaling 355 yards of offense, as well as an outstanding defensive performance from Kavion Henderson (4 tackles, 2 sacks) and Cody Cody Saulisbury (7 tackles, 1 sack).
