No. 10 Russellville grinds out 28–12 win at Priceville despite offensive struggles

The Russellville High School varsity football team (7-2, 5-1 5A Region 7), ranked No. 10 in the latest Alabama Sports Writers Association poll, went on the road and knocked off Priceville (2-7, 1-5) 28-12 on Friday night.

It was far from the prettiest game of football Golden Tiger fans have witnessed this season, but Russellville, scoring its fewest points since its week two loss at Mars Hill, was able to come out on top in its last region game of 2024.

First-year Russellville head coach Dustin Goodwin was disappointed with the overall performance of his offense, which was without its biggest weapon, junior running back Cameron Phinizee, for all but a few plays and was hurt by over 100 yards in penalties.

“I thought the defense played well enough to keep us in it. I’m proud of them. Offensively, I thought it was probably the worst productivity we’ve had all year,” Goodwin said.

“Missed assignments, too many penalties. I don’t know exactly what was wrong with us tonight, but we’ll look at it and get back to work to fix it,” he added.

For the fourth consecutive week the Golden Tiger defense allowed an opening-drive touchdown to start the game, but, as has also been the case the last few weeks, the Russellville offense answered right back with a score of its own.

Trailing 6-0 after blocking Priceville’s extra point, the Golden Tigers marched 63 yards down the field on its first possession, capping the drive with a two-yard touchdown run by senior Elliott Green to go up 7-6 with 3:09 remaining in the first quarter. 

Green, typically a mainstay on the defensive side of the ball, made the start at running back over Phinizee, who was dealing with illness throughout the week. After claiming his first rushing touchdown of the season in the opening period, Green, who received all the carries in the first half, would get his second offensive score on the first play of the second quarter after a Priceville turnover-on-downs gave Russellville the ball in plus territory.

“I thought Elliott did a nice job for us stepping in,” Goodwin said of Green, who finished the game with 108 yards. “Cam’s been sick all week, so we want to make sure he’s healthy moving forward.”

Phinizee, knocking on the door of another 2,000-yard rushing campaign, didn’t hit the yardage mark against the Bulldogs, but he did cross another milestone: the all-state back scored his 25th rushing touchdown of the season on one of the few handoffs he got in the third quarter. Following a one-handed interception by EJ King, the junior finished off a short, six-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown run to make it 21-6, Russellville.

Freshman quarterback Whit Goodwin capped the Golden Tigers’ scoring late in the third quarter with a 14-yard, read-option touchdown run.

The victory wrapped up region play for Russellville, who will face Class 6A Athens at Golden Tiger Stadium next Friday in its regular season finale before hosting Wenonah in the opening round of the AHSAA playoffs on November 8th. Following the lackluster performance against the Bulldogs, Goodwin said he wants to see a playoff-level of concentration and energy from his Golden Tigers as they prepare for the Golden Eagles next week and the postseason after that.

“We can go ahead and treat this next week like round one (of the playoffs) as far as intensity and preparation,” he said. “We obviously have a lot we need to clean up heading into the playoffs if we want to survive and win football games, so we’ll get back to work this week.”