By Gene Stanley/Sports Correspondent
Hewitt-Trussville built a 28-14 lead and hung on for a 31-27 victory over Class 7A No. 3 Gadsden City (5-1) on Friday at GCHS.
The Huskies (3-2) didn’t make many mistakes, but one of those miscues led to a Titan touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Hewitt appeared about to score again and put the game out of reach when Jarrion Street fumbled and Gadsden City’s Blair Edwards picked up the loose ball and outran everyone to the end zone 90 yards away. That score cut the lead to 28-21 with 7:48 left to play.
“I’m proud of the guys for not quitting,” Titan coach Matt Scott said. “After our big wins, we got patted on the back and told how great we were, but I knew we weren’t yet playing at the level we needed to be at – not for these big, physical teams like Hewitt. We matched up better with Bob Jones because they’re a smaller, faster team, kind of like us.”
On the next possession, the Huskies got a 17-yard field goal from Thomas McGettigan, points that proved to be the nail in the coffin for GCHS.
But what put the game totally out of reach was the extra point attempt after the Titans got another touchdown – a pass from Ahmad DeRamus to Darnell Mooney – with only 26.2 seconds remaining.
A Hewitt player got hit fingers on the ball and deflected it enough that the kick hit the crossbar and bounced harmlessly away.
The game started out looking like a shootout, with both teams seemingly scoring at will.
The Huskies took the opening possession and appeared to score on the eighth play, but a block in the back penalty called it back. However, five plays later Hewitt did score – on an 11-yard run by quarterback Zach Thomas.
Thomas scored again before the first quarter ended on a 7-yard rush. He then scored on a 2-yard run with 7:38 left in the half.
Meanwhile, the Titans scored on a 1-yard run by Dante Rudolph and a 30-yard rush by Rodney Bozeman.
The half ended with Hewitt leading 21-14.
The fourth Huskies touchdown came on a 3-yard rush by Street with 4:38 left in the third quarter.
“I hope this was a wake-up call for us,” Scott said. “Hopefully we’ll bounce back next week.”
Next week signals a return to 7A, Region 4 region play for Gadsden City at Huntsville.