Erin Nelson Sweeney
What a wild night of high school football.
Last Friday night had a little bit of everything, from thrilling victories to agonizing defeats.
In the Starnes Media coverage area, the carnage was pretty rough. We went from seven playoff teams down to two in a matter of hours, as Hewitt-Trussville and Clay-Chalkville — schools separated by fewer than five minutes on Deerfoot Parkway — were the only ones left standing.
Hewitt-Trussville advanced to its first ever Class 7A semifinal and first semifinal of any type since 1996 with a dominant display for the second straight week. Yeah, the Huskies handled Bob Jones, which was not entirely unexpected. But they backed that up with a rout of Hoover, exorcising plenty of playoff demons in the process.
Hewitt-Trussville had not been past the second round of the playoffs since 2008 and was previously 0-6 against Hoover in the playoffs. That puts an end to a tough season for Hoover, the program’s first losing season since 1998.
Now, the Huskies get to travel to Thompson, a place they have not won since 2014. Thompson drilled Hewitt earlier this season, and undoubtedly the Huskies will relish the opportunity at a second chance. A win would put the Huskies into the state championship game for only the second time in program history.
Many expected Clay-Chalkville to prove too much to handle for Mountain Brook, but the Spartans gave the Cougars everything they wanted, and more. Mountain Brook handed the ball to Cole Gamble nearly 40 times, and that was almost enough. The Spartans were stopped on fourth down in the final minutes, allowing Clay to escape with the 17-13 win.
Clay-Chalkville heads to Muscle Shoals this Friday in the 6A quarterfinals, in a matchup of unbeaten teams. That will be fun.
Vestavia Hills was firmly in the game for two quarters, but Thompson put any end to the potential upset with a dominant final two quarters in a 34-14 win over the Rebels. For the most part, Vestavia eliminated the type of mistakes that have cost the Rebels in previous meetings against the Warriors. But head coach Robert Evans credited Thompson’s halftime adjustments, which obviously worked in a major way. Evans, though, is bullish on the future of his program.
John Carroll’s dream season finally ended in a heartbreaking loss to Guntersville. The Cavs led virtually the whole way, but a late touchdown gave Guntersville the lead and the win. Who knows when John Carroll will be back to this point, but it was a great deal of fun getting to cover that program this fall. Hopefully it’s a trend as opposed to a singular shining moment for those guys.
Saraland looked like the defending 6A state champs against Briarwood. The Spartans showed no mercy and put the Lions away early. Briarwood finished with a 6-6 mark, but the Lions were a solid team this year. They returned to the playoffs, and perhaps this is the start of another long postseason run.
This week, Clay-Chalkville is in the quarterfinals and Hewitt-Trussville in the semifinals, so don’t get that confused. On the other side of the 7A bracket, Central-Phenix City is hosting Mary Montgomery in the other semifinal.
It’ll be a fun Black Friday of football!
