‘Gutsy’ Golden Tigers beat No. 10 Boaz, advance to second round after epic overtime classic

Perhaps the only unfortunate thing about Russellville High School’s thrilling, come-from-behind, adrenaline-pumping, roller-coaster-of-a-ride, overtime victory over the Boaz Pirates in the first round of the AHSAA playoffs on Friday night is, if reading this article is how you’re learning about it, there’s just simply no way I can do it justice. But I’ll give it my best shot, and you’ll just have to kick yourself for not being at Golden Tiger Stadium in person for one of the most exciting football games of the entire 2025 season.

Down 14-0 to No. 10 Boaz (8-3) with just over nine minutes left in the third quarter of a win-or-go-home game, things were looking pretty bleak for the Russellville Golden Tigers (7-4) on Friday night.

An extremely lackluster first half by the RHS offense—featuring three punts and two turnovers on downs—was only slightly offset by a tremendous display by the Golden Tiger defense which allowed just seven points and forced two punts and a turnover (an interception by freshman Drake Ergle) in the first half.

To compound things, coming out of the halftime break down a score, the Russellville offense, once it got the ball back after a Boaz three-and-out, had a disastrous beginning to its third quarter. 

Sophomore quarterback Whit Goodwin was strip sacked and the fumble recovery was returned by Boaz down to the RHS five-yard line. From there the Pirates were able to easily march it in to take a 14-0 lead with 9:07 to go in the third.

“It’s not a secret to our kids: We did not play well offensively for two and a half quarters,” Russellville head coach Dustin Goodwin told the Franklin Free Press. “Even when we did do something well or got a drive going, we’d make a mistake and put ourselves in long-yardage situations which are hard to overcome in games like this.

“We went in at halftime and I told them that there was going to be a storm. There’s always going to be storms in games like this, but you just have to take a step back, take a deep breath and keep on fighting,” he added.

Down two scores and with their backs against the wall, Russellville’s defense still continued to battle to get the football back to its offense.

On Boaz’s next possession after the touchdown, the Golden Tiger defense forced the Pirates to punt, and an unnecessary roughness penalty gave RHS great field position at the Boaz 40-yard line.

The Golden Tigers took advantage of the short field and a couple plays later were finally able to score on a 36-yard passing touchdown from Goodwin to senior receiver Connor Devaney to make it 14-7 with 10 seconds left in the third quarter.

Russellville was back in the fold.

But another Russellville mistake two possessions later—a thrown interception—had the Golden Tigers teetering again on the verge of falling two scores behind with under six minutes to play.

After the interception, Boaz took possession on the RHS 15-yard line and was in prime position to put the ball back in the endzone.

Right on cue, though, the RHS defense came to the rescue again, pushing the Pirates back, getting a sack, and forcing the visitors into a 40-yard field goal attempt which was missed wide left.

It was yet another break for the Golden Tigers, but unlike the others they’d had in the game, Russellville was able to take advantage of this one.

Starting at their own 20-yard line, the Golden Tigers drove the ball down the field and—after a long run by junior running back Tarus Davis set it up—Goodwin ran the ball in from a yard out to make it 14-13, Boaz.

The extra point would have tied the game up at 14 all, but David Tomas’ second missed extra point of the season would, of course, come at the most dramatic time possible. The PAT was doinked off the goal post and that left RHS down 14-13 with 4:58 to play.

The missed extra point was an example of a moment when the Golden Tigers could’ve folded and ceded the game to the Pirates. But Goodwin said his team wasn’t going down without a fight.

“I’m not saying there was never anybody that had a doubt or that there wasn’t any frustration, but when the rubber meets the road and it’s time to act, I thought our kids continued to fight,” he said. “That’s never a question with these guys.

“We have that ‘never panic’ mentality, and I saw a lot of that on our sideline tonight,” he added.

“If there’s time on the clock, there’s time to get the job done.”

In the remaining five minutes of regulation, A LOT transpired.

Boaz had not one but two opportunities to ice the game, and similarly the Golden Tigers had two chances to take (and hold) the lead. Neither happened.

On Boaz’s next possession, sophomore linebacker Braxton Duncan picked off Boaz’s quarterback. Unfortunately for RHS, the Golden Tigers were pushed back because of a chop block penalty—a penalty that Goodwin didn’t agree with—which chalked off a go-ahead touchdown. The Golden Tigers were ultimately forced to punt on that drive.

Still down by a point, the Russellville defense got yet another stop after Boaz regained possession.

With less than two minutes to play now, Russellville took over on the Boaz 43-yard line and, after a 34-yard pass from Goodwin to senior Bryson Cooper, Goodwin was able to scramble into the endzone from four yards out to give Russellville its first lead of the game with 1:05 remaining. 

RHS went for two and converted on a pass from Goodwin to senior Ben Pounders to make it 21-14.

Still, it’s not over.

For the first time since Boaz’s opening drive of the game, the Golden Tiger defense, with less than a minute to play, allowed the Pirates to drive down the field and score.

As time expired, Boaz connected on a 21-yard touchdown pass and then made the ensuing extra point to tie the game up 21-21.

“It was a wild night. These games are crazy. That’s why you never quit, why you never let your guard down,” Goodwin said. “As we saw tonight and in games across the state the last two days, these games are never over.”

After the Pirates tied the game up to send the contest to overtime, Goodwin gathered his entire team up in a huddle on the sideline to give one simple message:

“We’ve found a way to get to this point,” he said. “Yeah, we gave up the game-tying touchdown to send us to overtime, but we were behind and we’ve found a way to get to this point.

“I just told them to continue to fight. We deserved to win this game and told them to just do the job that they were called to do—and they answered that call,” he added.

Russellville deferred on the overtime coin toss and went on defense to start the overtime period.

It didn’t take long for Boaz to reach the endzone and give the Pirates a 28-21 lead after the extra point.

But then it was Russellville’s turn. And the Golden Tigers didn’t wait around to score either with Goodwin rushing in on first down to make it 28-27.

Initially, Russellville was content to send the PAT team out there to tie things up. But Boaz, remembering the earlier missed extra point, decided to call its timeout in the hopes of “freezing” the kicker. That decision, it turns out, didn’t pan out well for the Pirates.

The timeout break, Goodwin said, allowed him to gather up his small group of senior players, who, you have to hand it to them, are a gutsy group. With the season on the line, Goodwin (who hasn’t had the best experience with overtime games in his time at Russellville) gave the decision over to his upperclassmen—their high school careers on the line—and they delivered their verdict.

“We were gonna kick the extra point, but when (Boaz) called timeout it allowed us to get our seniors together. Our seniors decided they wanted to go for two, so that’s exactly what we did,” Goodwin said.

Fittingly enough, though it was a sophomore quarterback that took the snap, it was a senior receiver that caught the game-winning two-point pass. Rolling out to his right, Goodwin found Devaney wide open in the back corner of the endzone for a simple pitch-and-catch to win the game, 29-28, and send the Golden Tigers to the second round of the Class 5A playoffs.

“These guys always believe they can win, which I think is a great characteristic to have,” said Goodwin, who earned his 50th career win as a head coach. “Even in the bad moments, we get just a little bit of momentum and take it one play at a time.

“Things never got out of control because I think deep down they know that they’ve worked hard to be where they’re at and to get the job done and that there’s always a chance,” he added. “We preached to our guys to keep fighting and they did, and ultimately we were able to be victorious because of it.

“It was just a really amazing night.”

The win sends the Golden Tigers to the second round of the playoffs for the fifth time in six years. Russellville will travel to Briarwood Christian, a program Russellville has plenty of history with, for the round two game.

Despite the roller coaster of a game that was round one versus Boaz, Goodwin said he isn’t worried about any kind of emotional hangover ahead of the second round contest at Briarwood.

“Being that it’s the playoffs, being that it’s the quality of opponent that is Briarwood, I don’t think any kind of emotional letdown will happen,” he said. “Our kids will be excited and ready to play.

“It’s been really fun to see the smiling faces in the field house tonight and for these guys to know that their hard work has paid off. They deserved this win tonight, but I know they won’t take it for granted. They’ll be excited and ready to get back to work on Monday.”