Golden Tigers open region play with convincing 35-21 road win at Hartselle

When the AHSAA announced the new reclassification and realignments earlier this year, and that the big-time Class 6A football programs like Athens, Hartselle and Muscle Shoals were dropping down to Class 5A and into Region 7 with Russellville, there weren’t many people giving the Golden Tigers a chance at competing.

Well, if Russellville’s first two wins over rival Deshler and defending Class 3A state champs Mars Hill weren’t enough to convince the doubters, perhaps Friday night’s performance against one of Region 7’s favorites will sway an opinion or two.

At Hartselle High School’s J.P. Cain Stadium, Russellville’s defense forced three turnovers and senior running back Tarus Davis scored four rushing touchdowns as the Golden Tigers pulled away from the Tigers in a convincing 35-21 road victory. It was Russellville’s first win over Hartselle (1-2, 0-1) since 2012 and snapped a five-game losing streak against the Tigers.

The victory improved Russellville to 3-0 on the season and 1-0 in Class 5A Region 7.

“It’s a huge region win and gets us off to a good start,” said first-year Russellville head coach Darrell Higgins, who extended his personal winning streak as a head coach to 23 games.

Hartselle struck first, using a long opening kickoff return to set up its offense before scoring on its first possession.

Down 7-0, Russellville’s opening offensive possession then stalled—an ominous beginning—but the Golden Tiger defense quickly answered with a takeaway. Junior defensive back Carter Clement intercepted a Hartselle pass to give Russellville another opportunity, and the Golden Tigers capitalized immediately via a 32-yard touchdown run by Davis to tie it up, 7-7.

“That was our first time being behind all year, so I was really proud of how we responded to that right from the start,” Higgins said.

After a few punts and changes of possession, the Golden Tigers later took their first lead early in the second quarter when senior quarterback Tripp Cleveland connected with junior wingback Caleb Hawkins on a 38-yard touchdown strike through the air. The touchdown catch was Hawkins’ first of the campaign.

The hosts replied with 4:13 remaining in the first half, scoring to pull even at 14-14. However, the score didn’t stay tied for long. Eleven seconds later, on the first play of Russellville’s ensuing possession, Davis broke away again for a 65-yard touchdown run, his second of the night, giving the Golden Tigers a 21-14 advantage.

“Our offensive line did a good job coming off the ball and giving us lanes to run in,” Higgins said. “The entire line did a great job of coming off low, hard and fast like we wanted them to, and we were able to make some plays from that.”

Russellville’s defense then came up with another big play—a second takeaway—just before halftime. Junior linebacker Braxton Duncan intercepted a pass with five seconds left in the second quarter, preventing the Tigers from potentially tying the game before the break.

The defensive stop before halftime was just one of several that were key to the end result for Russellville Friday night.

“Coach (Will) Kilpatrick and all our defensive coaches do a great job of scouting and working and giving our guys a plan,” Higgins said. “It’s just up to our players to go out and play ball. They did a really great job tonight of executing, creating turnovers and making a lot of great plays for us.”

Leading 21-14 coming out of the intermission, the Golden Tigers faced an early setback to open the second half when they fumbled the kickoff, giving Hartselle possession deep in RHS territory. Once again, though, the Russellville defense came in clutch and responded by forcing a stop. Hartselle was forced to settle for a 41-yard field goal attempt, which sailed wide left and kept the Golden Tigers in front by seven points.

The Golden Tigers then turned Hartselle’s missed opportunity into points of their own, extending their lead to two scores.

With 4:21 left in the third quarter, Davis, who finished the game with over 250 yards rushing, continued his dominant night with a 46-yard touchdown run, his third score of the game, to push the Golden Tigers’ lead to 28-14.

Another Hartselle punt and short Davis touchdown dash later and the Golden Tigers held a 35-14 advantage at the end of the third quarter.

“Once we took a lead, we just kept playing good, hard football,” Higgins said.

“Our only adjustment (out of halftime) was just to play even harder,” he added.

Hartselle managed to score once more early in the fourth quarter, cutting the deficit to 14 points, but Russellville’s defense continued to make things difficult for the Tigers. The Golden Tiger D forced a Hartselle turnover-on-downs to end the hosts’ penultimate possession, and then, with just 1:09 remaining, junior linebacker Weston Whitaker provided the finishing touch on the victory by forcing Hartselle’s third interception of the contest and effectively sealing the 35-21 win.

“This region is unbelievably tough, so we’re just happy to be able to win one in this region,” Higgins said.

The Golden Tigers’ 14-point win gives RHS an all-time series lead of 25-11-1 over Hartselle and a 10-3 record vs. the Tigers in region games.

Russellville will return home to Golden Tiger Stadium on Friday, September 11, for its next region matchup against Florence.