At the halfway point in this season, Gadsden City hosted Hewitt-Trussville in a non-region game and the Huskies came away with a 31-27 win over the Titans. These two teams battle again in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs.
In that game, there was a little bit of everything. Gadsden City had their running game going, while Hewitt-Trussville leaned on the junior QB Zac Thomas for much of the night. Nothing should change this Friday night.
Thomas leads the Huskies offense and the Titans will have their hands full on trying to stop him. Thomas has completed 119-for-201 for 1,639 yards with 8 TD's and 7 interceptions. Where Thomas is really dangerous is in the run game churning out 1,051 yards on 208 carries for 17 touchdowns.
Running back Jarrion Street provides the Huskies offense with a good 1-2 punch with Thomas in the run game. Street has 959 yards on 158 carries and 13 touchdowns. Thomas averages 5.1 yards per carry while Street averages 6.1 yards per carry for the Huskies. Offensive lineman Coleman Compton and John Songer are solid up front for the Huskies.
The big key in this game is the front seven for Hewitt-Trussville stopping the Titans ground game. Linebackers Jalen Williams (115 tackles, 4 sacks), Bailey Mcelwain (103 tackles, 13 tackles for loss) and safety Deontay Wilson (82 tackles) will try to keep the Titans limited on the ground. In the last game, the Huskies secondary forced two Titans interceptions that was key in that game. Jarett Nelson had one of the two picks for the Huskies in that first game. Even the special teams were in play that last game. Kicker TJ McGettigan kicked a field goal and had an onside kick were wide receiver Dalton Meadows recovered the football.
For Gadsden City, the Titans had a run game that is one of the best in the state. The Titans have a three-headed running game that can break down a defense. Running backs Gabe Ford, Rodney Bowman and Damon Williams can score from anywhere on the field with their break away speed. At wide receiver, Jaylon Williams and Darnell Mooney can turn a little slant into six or go deep anytime. The offensive line is solid with Nolan Boatner and Jamahl Jelks making the holes for the Titans run game.
Quarterback Ahmad DeRamus leads the Titans offense. In the last game against Hewitt-Trussville, DeRamus completed 13-for-21 passing for 144 yards with a touchdown, but had those two key interceptions. The Titans have averaged 39.0 points per game this season.
The Titans defense has Torrez Boyd on the defensive front. Linebackers Zackery Oglesby and Jarvis McGee have a nose for finding the football on everyplay. Adrian Sumpter had to play two of the best receivers in the state with Trey Gamble of Oxford and Tory Hunt of Bob Jones. The Titans defense has given up 25.7 points per game along with 30 points or more in their last five games, two of them have been loses.
Both teams come into this game with loses. Hewitt-Trussville had to play the top team in 7A Hoover and the top 6A in Clay-Chalkville, both were loses. Gasdsden City lost to Buckhorn two weeks ago but was off last week. Look for a lot of points to be scored in this game again. The teams that can force a few turnovers again and get a big special teams play could be the difference again in this game.
