Russellville conquers Coosa Christian 49-10 in final non-region game of regular season

For the second straight week, the Russellville High School varsity football team dominated its opponent on the road.

Last time, on September 18, it was East Limestone in region play; this past Friday, September 25, it was the defending Class 2A state champion Coosa Christian, which came into the game 0-5. The Golden Tigers vanquished the Conquerors by a final score of 49-10 to improve to 5-1 overall.

“We came over and took care of business just like we’re supposed to,” Russellville head coach Darrell Higgins said. “It was a good night of good, clean football.”

Russellville, which had the game all but wrapped up by halftime, kept the Conquerers under siege at Phillip Ellen Stadium for nearly the entire game.

The Golden Tigers opened the scoring on their first offensive possession. After getting the ball from Coosa following a defensive stop, Russellville marched 68 yards down the field and scored on a one-yard touchdown run by senior running back Tarus Davis with 3:25 left in the first quarter.

A fumble by Coosa on the ensuing kickoff return gave the ball right back to RHS, and the Golden Tigers took advantage to go up two scores right before the end of the opening period. Eli Harris had the touchdown run on this occasion, taking it into the endzone from 21 yards out.

Early in the second quarter, with 9:58 to go before halftime, Russellville extended its lead with a 40-yard touchdown pitch-and-catch from senior quarterback Tripp Cleveland to junior receiver Caleb Hawkins.

“He’s done’s a great job from a leadership standpoint, running the offense and he continues to get better and more confident every week,” Higgins said of his quarterback Cleveland. “He’s doing an outstanding job for us.”

Another Conquerer turnover soon after put the ball back in Russellville’s hands, and the visitors capitalized with another Davis rushing touchdown. Davis would go on to score two more times before the end of the half to give him four rushing touchdowns for the game and 16 for the season.

The Golden Tigers went into the break leading Coosa Christian 42-3.

For good measure Russellville tacked on one more score after receiving the kickoff to start the second half. Senior Keifer Hallmark grabbed his first rushing touchdown of the campaign on a one-yard run early in the third quarter to cap his team’s scoring and give RHS a 49-3 cushion.

Early in the fourth quarter, with a running clock and the Golden Tigers playing its reserves, the hosts added one more score to give the game its 49-10 final.

The routed victory over the Conquerers sets the Golden Tigers up for a home showdown against old rival Muscle Shoals when they return to region competition next Friday. In addition to the meeting being the first between the foes since 2013, the outcome of the contest could potentially prove to have major postseason ramifications with both teams coming in at 2-1 in Class 5A Region 7. (Both teams’ region defeats were to No. 10 Florence.)

“We won’t have to worry about (the players) being focused for Muscle Shoals. They know how good Muscle Shoals is and what it’s going to take for us to be able to play good football against them,” Higgins said.

“Muscle Shoals is on another level in terms of where they’re used to playing football, so for us to compete with them we’re going to have to play really good football,” he added.

Russellville and Muscle Shoals will face off at Golden Tiger Stadium on Friday, October 2.