Second-half surge pushes Russellville past host Hatton 35-26

In the final game of a three-game road stretch for the Russellville High School varsity football team, the Golden Tigers gritted out a 35-26 win at Hatton on Friday night.

Trailing 20-14 at the halftime break, Russellville (4-3) scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to go up 35-20 before Hatton (4-3) was able to score late in the game to make it a nine-point victory for the visitors.

“I said all week how talented Hatton is. Credit to them and their kids—they played really hard and they made plays,” Russellville second-year head coach Dustin Goodwin told the Franklin Free Press postgame.

“I think we came out…but we weren’t playing to the best of our ability,” Goodwin added. “We challenged our kids at halftime; we did some good things (in the first half), but obviously we couldn’t get off the field on defense. So we just challenged them to play the game the way they’re supposed to and how they know how to, and I think we did a much better job of that in the second half.

“All in all I thought our effort was better in the second half, and I’m proud of our guys for being able to get the win.”

After an opening punt by the Russellville offense to start the game, Hatton went down the field and capped a 10-plus-play drive with a 10-yard passing touchdown to go up 6-0.

Russellville responded on its next possession when sophomore quarterback Whit Goodwin, who finished with over 180 yards passing, found receiver Julyan Francisco streaking wide open down the visitor sideline for a 55-yard touchdown.

The two teams traded touchdowns again to tie it up 14-14 with 5:25 to go in the first half: First, Hatton’s Savarius Evans crossed the goalline on a two-yard rushing touchdown to make it 14-7, Hornets, after the successful two-point try; and then Goodwin accounted for his second touchdown of the night—this time scoring with his legs on a 12-yard run—to knot it up.

Though there were more opportunities for both sides to add more points in the dying minutes of the first half, the last score of the opening 24 minutes was made by the hosts, who went up 20-14 after the Hornets’ quarterback hit a receiver on a perfectly-thrown 36-yard pass to the back corner of the RHS endzone. Missed chances for each team included Hatton throwing an interception to Russellville’s Daniel Aycock, and an RHS turnover-on-downs as well as a fumble at the pylon that went through the endzone for a touchback.

“We had a tough play right there before halftime…where it looked like we had two hands on the football and knocked over the pylon before it got loose. But that’s just one of those judgement calls…that just is what it is,” Goodwin said of turnover in the endzone. “It was a big moment in the game and it could’ve been disastrous for us, but in the second half our kids answered the call.”

Cue Goodwin’s halftime challenge to his Golden Tigers.

Coming out of the halftime break, Russellville made a big special teams play to start the third quarter. (Challenge accepted, apparently.) A pooch kick on the kickoff and a loose ball ended up in Russellville’s hands, so the visitors were able to begin the second half with possession.

The Golden Tigers, starting the drive at the Hatton 30-yard line, made the most of their good fortune, retaking the lead on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Goodwin to junior receiver Gavin Willis and ensuing extra point.

On Hatton’s first offensive possession of the second half, the Russellville defense came up with a big stop, forcing a turnover on downs inside the redzone. The Golden Tiger D would go on to rebuff the Hornet offense twice more, forcing a punt and then a fumble on the next two HHS possessions. 

Meanwhile, the Russellville offense scored on its next two drives to increase its advantage to 21 points. Junior running back Tarus Davis, who totaled over 80 yards on the ground on the night, made it 28-20 after a five-yard touchdown scamper with 10:50 remaining in the fourth. Then with 5:34 left, Goodwin, adding his second-rushing touchdown, made it 35-20 after sprinting in from the 13-yard line.

Hatton capped the scoring in the contest with a 30-yard touchdown pass with 2:57 remaining to make it 35-26; but the Hornets’ perhaps questionable decision to go for the two-pointer and then failing kept it a two-score game, and the Golden Tigers’ recovery of the ensuing onside kick attempt effectively iced it.

The victory over Hatton puts the Golden Tigers back over .500 for the season and is another example of this youthful Russellville team’s fight and ability to find a way to win tough games.

“They always believe they can win, and they love and care about each other enough that they don’t want to let each other down—and that goes a long way,” Goodwin said of his players. “We’re really proud of them. I do think they’re a great team. They give you everything they’ve got, and that’s all we can ask out of them.”

The triumph at Hatton also gives the Golden Tigers a bit of a morale boost heading into their upcoming Homecoming game against region opponent West Point next week. But Homecoming comes with its own unique pitfalls at the same time; Goodwin said the players will have to manage those and keep the main thing the main thing.

“We know Homecoming has a ton of distractions, so we have to limit those. We have to focus on our job and that’s the region opponent,” he said. “Hopefully our kids are able to limit those distractions and focus on the task at hand and get a region win that we need.”

Russellville is set to kickoff against the West Point Warriors at 7 p.m. at Golden Tiger Stadium on Friday, October 17.