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Spain Park couldn't overcome turnovers early in a difficult region loss to No. 2 Hewitt-Trussville on Friday, Sept. 4. (For the Reporter/Neal Wagner)

By GRAHAM BROOKS | Special to the Reporter

HOOVER – In a big matchup between Spain Park and Hewitt-Trussville to open Class 7A, Region 3 play, the Huskies’ defense stymied the Jaguars forcing three first-quarter turnovers on the way to a 45-13 rout on the road on Friday, Sept. 4.

“Those guys are a good football team and they’re going to win a lot of games and I still think it’s one of the better offenses we are going to see,” Hewitt-Trussville head coach Josh Floyd said. “I thought our defense played really well tonight and I thought we played super physical. We’ve had a lot of adversity this week and it’s great to see our guys be challenged a little bit and step up and make plays.”

Hewitt-Trussville racked up 475 yards of offense on just 39 plays as the large majority came on the ground. The Huskies had five touchdowns rushing in addition to the stout defensive effort.

Huskies’ running backs Armoni Goodwin and Sean Jackson both topped the century mark as Goodwin led the way with 135 yards on nine carries and Jackson finished with 118 yards on six carries. Both backs finished with a pair of touchdowns.

Hewitt-Trussville raced out to a 24-0 first-quarter lead as the Huskies’ converted points following all of Spain Park’s turnovers.

“I think that was probably the difference in the game that first quarter, but we were able to jump on them and run the ball pretty effectively,” Floyd said.

After leading 3-0, Hewitt-Trussville quarterback Cade Carruth threw a 60-yard touchdown one play after a Spain Park interception to make it 10-0.

On the next drive, Spain Park quarterback Bennett Meredith was hit and lost the ball as the Huskies recovered the ball at the Jaguars’ 32-yard line.

Hewitt-Trussville took advantage, as Goodwin raced 32 yards for a touchdown to extend the lead to 17-0.

A crucial play in the first quarter came when Carruth hit Omari Kelly for an 18-yard pass to convert a fourth-and-7 to make it first-and-goal Hewitt-Trussville. The next play, Carruth scored on a designed run up the middle to make it 24-0. Kelly was a favorite target for Carruth as he finished with 107 yards receiving and a score.

Trailing 31-0, Spain Park had opportunities to score at the end of the first half but to no avail. The Huskies forced a turnover on downs near the goal line and the Jaguars missed a 37-yard field goal just before halftime.

The biggest play of the night for Spain Park came in the third quarter when Meredith hit receiver Cooper Kelley for a 57-yard touchdown to make it 31-6 but that’s as close as the Jaguars got. The Jaguars finished with 261 total yards.

Hewitt-Trussville handed Spain Park it’s first loss of the season in dominating fashion and when asked how good this team could possibly be, Floyd said there’s plenty of potential.

“I don’t know, it’s two games but I think this group has a shot to do something special but man this region is so tough,” Floyd said. “These guys (Spain Park) could go win the rest of their games…. The key to this region is staying healthy as much as you can and just get better every week. This is one night.”

After the loss, Spain Park dropped to 2-1 (0-1) on the season and will look to have a bounce back win against Thompson on Friday, Sept. 11.

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