By John Goolsby, Prep Sports Editor
TRUSSVILLE – The Hewitt-Trussville 7th, 8th and 9th grade football teams went undefeated this past season.
The three teams combined for a 24-0 record.
Going undefeated is no easy task when the schedule is full of Thompson, Hoover, Mountain Brook, and Vestavia teams.
Terry Gillespie, the 7th Grade Head Coach, saw his team go 8-0 and win the Metro South Championship.
The 7th Grade Huskies beat Berry 61-20 in the championship game.
Gillespie, the 7th Grade Metro South Coach of the Year, had the opportunity to coach a hard-working and disciplined team.
“Back in the winter of last year, I told this team that our goal was to win a Metro South Championship,” Gillespie said. “From that day forward, they worked hard in the off-season, even throughout the hot summer workouts.”
“They kept this work ethic throughout a long football season,” he said. “Not once did this group lose focus, and it was great to see them achieve this goal we set at the beginning.”
“This is a special group that has a bright future in front of them.”
For the first time in school history, the current 8th graders went undefeated throughout their middle school career.
The team went 16-0 in middle school football and won back-to-back Metro South Championships.
The 8th Grade Huskies beat Thompson 52-34 in the championship game.
8th Grade Head Coach Scott Bromley was the 8th Grade Metro South Coach of the Year.
“Like in any organization, leaders are only as good as the people around them,” said Bromley. “We are blessed to have great players and coaches investing their time and energy to be great.”
“I am thankful to be a part of it and grateful for players that love to compete and win,” he said. “Our mantra this season was ‘Get On The Bus.’”
“That meant do whatever we have to do on a daily basis in order to do our job at a high level,” Bromley said. “Regardless of the circumstances, bring our best daily and focus on what matters.”
The Hewitt 9th-grade team completed the trifecta.
Coach Dylan Teague’s Huskies were the only 9th-grade team to go undefeated in the area.
“We were extremely fortunate to have the privilege of coaching a great group of young men this year,” Teague said. “They say it takes a village for individuals and teams to reach their full potential, and we are so grateful for the hard work and dedication put in by coaches, parents, players, and everyone else that helped make this season a success; we can’t thank them enough.”
“We ask our 9th-grade team every year to do three things to excel on and off the field: give great effort, be coachable, and be a good teammate.”
“These young men immediately bought into these principles and came to practice daily to prepare and get better in all three phases.”
“By practice three, we knew that we had something special when we (the coaches) were walking down to the field and saw the players lined up 15 minutes early for stretching.”
“We had quite a few one score games that could’ve gone the other way, but the players found a way to overcome adversity and finish.”
“We as coaches are extremely proud of this group of players and excited to see what their future holds as they become members of the varsity team.”