9 months ago
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HOOVER – Hewitt-Trussville High School notched a 28-7 win over Hoover on Friday at the Hoover Met.
It was the Huskies fifth time to ever defeat Hoover. It’s just the second win for the program at the Met, the other one coming way back in 1997.
“It’s huge,” said Josh Floyd, whose Hewitt-Trussville team improves to 4-1 overall and 3-0 in Class 7A, Region 3 with the win. “I say this out of respect to Hoover, this is one of those program wins. They’re hard to beat and everybody knows that. We’ve lost some heartbreakers on this field.”
The Bucs fell to 1-4 overall and 1-2 in region play. Hoover amassed 152 total yards, much of that accumulated on two drives.
“We’re searching for answers right now and we’re obviously not doing a good job of finding them,” Hoover head coach Wade Waldrop said following the game. “Our kids played hard. They stayed together after a tough week. We’ve got to do a better job as coaches, everybody’s got to do a better job. We’ve got a long way to go.”
Both coaches agreed the game turned on a sequence early in the second quarter. Hoover put together a 21-play drive and marched all the way inside the Huskies’ 1-yard line. But the Bucs were stopped on fourth-and-goal, coming away with nothing.
However, the Hoover defense rallied and forced what seemed to be a quick three and out. But on third down, the Bucs were assessed a sideline interference penalty, giving Hewitt new life and a first down. The Huskies went on to finish the 99-yard drive with the first of Peyton Floyd’s three touchdown runs.
“The defense was incredible tonight,” Josh Floyd said. “The biggest thing is the goal line stand. We didn’t start out very well offensively. They were moving the ball on us, but our guys were tough and stepped it up there at the end.”
Hewitt was aided by another penalty on its second scoring drive late in the half, as Peyton Floyd scored on a 2-yard run with 13 seconds left in the half to give the Huskies a 14-0 edge at the break.
The third quarter featured much of the same, as the Huskies scored on back-to-back drives to put the game away. Floyd ran it in from a yard out to make it 21-0, and later found Dylan Cope open over the middle for a 19-yard score to push the lead to 28-0 late in the third.
Floyd’s stat line won’t be displayed in a museum, but that didn’t matter. He completed 10-of-17 passes for 125 yards, a touchdown and a pair of interceptions. He rushed it 22 times for 61 yards, with the three scores.
“The goal first and foremost is to win,” he said. “Your stat line may not look as good some weeks. Tonight was one of those nights where we were just trying to win.”
Hoover’s lone touchdown came in the fourth quarter, on a 6-yard pass from Noah Schuback to Avery Crawford.
Hoover’s defense played well much of the evening, holding the Huskies to 248 total yards. Treshawn Darden and Trey Sanders intercepted passes, while Jamar Jones notched a third-down sack on the first drive of the game.
Hewitt’s defense bottled up the Hoover running attack, holding the Bucs to 56 rushing yards. That made life difficult for the passing game, and Ayden Moore’s sack in the second quarter was among several negative plays for the offense.
For the Huskies, Jaqson Melton rushed for 21 yards on 8 carries. Cope was the leading receiver, with 5 grabs for 54 yards. Jacob Serena had a few big catches, totaling 46 yards on 3 receptions. Jadon Loving caught a couple passes for 25 yards.
Schuback was 14-of-29 for 96 yards, and rushed for 20 yards. Kamal Amerson was the Bucs’ leading rusher with 10 carries for 29 yards. Jordan Woolen had 6 catches for 44 yards.
Next week, both teams take a break from region play. Hoover hosts Mountain Brook, while Hewitt-Trussville hosts Huffman.
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