The Russellville High School varsity football team (9-1, 6-1) ended the 2026 regular season Friday night with a 45-35 Homecoming victory over Austin High School (5-4, 5-2). It was a crucial result for the Golden Tigers as it clinched Class 5A Region 7’s second seed and secured Russellville’s right to host its first-round playoff game on Friday, November 6.
“It was an amazing week with everything that goes into making Homecoming special. Our job as a football team is to go out and play good football and let everyone else enjoy the festivities. I think we did a good job of focusing on football,” Russellville’s head coach Darrell Higgins said.
“It was an exciting win. We really wanted to host a playoff game,” he added. “I’m proud of the way our guys played with all of the Homecoming activities and events going on, and we were able to play some really good football.”
The Golden Tigers looked ready to go from the first whistle. Senior Tarus Davis returned the opening kickoff to inside the Austin five-yard line, and then, two plays later, walked into the endzone from a yard out to give Russellville an initial 7-0 lead less than a minute into the contest.
Austin answered with a touchdown later in the quarter, using an explosive play of its own to get on the board. A defensive miscue in the secondary allowed Austin’s quarterback, senior Donovan Jarman, to connect with sophomore receiver Alvin Jones on a slant route that went 89 yards. The ensuing extra point attempt was blocked by junior Jasen Noel, keeping Russellville’s lead, 7-6, intact with 2:58 left in the first.
The two teams traded scoreless possessions until midway through the second quarter when another special teams play (plays made by Russellville’s special teams unit will be a theme throughout) extended the Golden Tigers’ advantage to 10-6 after junior kicker Andy Mojica, from 32 yards out, knocked the ball through the uprights. Mojica’s successful field goal made him 3-for-3 on the season.
A couple minutes later the Golden Tiger defense forced another stop, allowing the hosts another opportunity to put more points on the board. Starting from their own 42-yard line, the Golden Tigers put together a drive that culminated in a 23-yard touchdown catch by Davis, his third receiving touchdown of the season. On fourth and medium, senior quarterback Tripp Cleveland hit Davis on a screen pass and Davis did the rest, breaking a couple of arm tackles on his way to the endzone.
The extra point good, Russellville led 17-6 with 1:28 left before halftime.
But with two times left, the Black Bears were also intent on scoring before the break.
A long pass from Jarman to receiver Austin Sales, Jr. put the Black Bears in Russellville territory with under a minute left, but the Golden Tiger defense held up and forced Austin to send out its field goal unit for a 36-yard try. Once again, though, Russellville’s special teams unit made a big play: Noel, coming around the edge, blocked his second kick of the night to deny the Black Bears three points.
“Our special teams have been really good all year long,” Higgins said. “Hunter Kilpatrick and Peyton Higgins are our special teams coaches, and they spend a tremendous amount of time game planning and working and practicing with these guys.
“Special teams, I think, was a huge reason we won the game,” he added.
After recovering the blocked kick, Russellville kneeled out the remaining seconds to take a 17-6 lead into halftime.
To start the second half, Austin received the ball and pulled back within one score in just under two minutes. Senior running back Aidan Davis capped Austin’s 62-yard drive with a 29-yard touchdown rush to make it a 17-12 ballgame after the failed two-point try.
On Russellville’s ensuing possession, the Golden Tigers picked up one first down, but the drive stalled around the RHS 40-yard line. On fourth down and five, and with momentum teetering in Austin’s direction, Higgins made one of the most important decisions of the night: He sent the punt unit on the field… but he had no intention of kicking it. The quarterback/punter Cleveland took the snap and, with everyone in gold running down the field, tossed the ball to sophomore Cade Willis behind the line of scrimmage. The perfectly-executed fake allowed Willis to dash for a lot more than the five yards he needed before he was eventually pushed out of bounds at the Austin 36-yard line.
The punt team had the fake in its back pocket all season, Higgins said, but he felt that moment was the right one to finally pull it out.
“We had practiced it all the way from the summer until now, and we felt like we had it whenever we wanted it,” he said. “That seemed like the right time to run it, with Austin gaining the momentum. To start the second half, we wanted a big play.”
The gamble paid off a few plays later when Davis took the buck sweep handoff to the right and scampered 28 yards untouched into the endzone for his second rushing touchdown of the night.
Up 24-12, the Russellville offense got the ball back thanks to an Austin three-and-out and then scored with 1:41 left in the third quarter to make it 31-12. Senior Eli Harris finished off the Golden Tigers’ 37-yard drive with a six-yard touchdown run up the middle, his fifth rushing score of the campaign.
From there the teams traded touchdown drives, but Russellville managed to keep Austin at arm’s length with a continuous two-score advantage.
Davis, who finished with 29 carries for 207 yards, added another touchdown, a 28-yarder, with 8:00 left in the game to put the Golden Tigers up 38-20 and then scored RHS’ final touchdown of the night five minutes later with a 34-yard run.
Davis’ five touchdowns on the night—four rushing and one receiving—put him at 29 for the year. Dating back to the end of the 2025 campaign, Davis has rushed for over 100 yards in 11 straight contests. And with 1,532 rushing yards this season, Davis, according to MaxPreps, ranks eighth in the state in total rushing yards.
“He’s been unbelievable,” Higgins said of Davis. “I don’t think there’s anyone in North Alabama close to him as a running back. He’s outstanding. Our guys really believe in him. He does a great job at getting behind our offensive line and finding holes and breaking tackles.”
After scoring on a 12-yard touchdown pass with 1:22 remaining to pull within 10 points after the two-point conversion, Austin attempted their second onside kick, but—guess who—Tarus Davis was there to recover it and seal the 45-35 victory for the Golden Tigers.
The win over Austin gave Russellville an outside chance at its first region title since 2023, but Hartselle, playing underdog against Florence, was unable to supply the help Russellville needed to achieve that accolade and so the Golden Tigers claimed the region runner-up spot—still a very good spot to be in. As a result, Russellville will host its first round playoff game for the seventh straight season.
“We’ve really grown a lot since the start of the year,” Higgins said. “We’ve continued to play good football, and whether it’s on special teams or defense or offense, whoever has had to make the plays to help us win the football game has stepped up.”
After 10 straight weeks of football, the Golden Tigers will have their bye week on October 30 before Pell City (4-5), the third seed out of Region 6, comes to Golden Tiger Stadium on November 6.
Higgins expects his players to maintain their intensity in workouts and practice during the bye week, but hopefully at the same time it will give his players some chance to rest and recover before Pell City comes to town in two weeks.
“We’ll continue to practice hard and workout hard and condition hard, but we won’t have to game plan for another team this (bye) week, so hopefully we can get the guys home a little earlier and they can rest up,” Higgins said.
“The coaches will begin looking at Pell City this week and working on them, but for our team it’s just about us—getting better with our stuff and making sure we’re focused and ready to go before we start working with the team on Pell City on Sunday.
“I know Pell City is a very athletic, very talented group. They’ll be a really physical football team, so we’ll have to play our best to have a chance,” Higgins added.