Russellville-Athens game could decide Region 8 champion
Russellville defensive back Romano Craig intercepts a pass during a drill Tuesday. He will get a good test Friday when Athens quarterback Stephen Rivers, an LSU commitment, comes to town. | Scot Beard/FCT
Top-ranked Russellville is used to being the team coming to town with the highly sought after recruit, but this week the Golden Tigers will get to experience playing against a recruit that has committed to playing quarterback at LSU.
Athens will bring quarterback Stephen Rivers to Russellville Tiger Stadium for a key showdown that might determine the winner of Class 5A, Region 8.
Russellville coach Doug Goodwin said his team is not too worried about playing against Rivers.
“They’ve been a power running team so far,” Goodwin said. “Last year they ran the spread offense.”
Goodwin said the Golden Eagles are big along the offensive line and have some running backs that can move the chains.
The Russellville defense has played well this season, giving up a total of 303 yards through two games.
Most of those yards came on the ground as Deshler and Lawrence County have combined to complete two passes for 15 yards against the Golden Tigers.
Those numbers are not as impressive as they seem when you consider those two teams only attempted 13 passes combined in those games.
Is Goodwin concerned about the low number of passes his defense has seen?
“Not really. You have to be sound against the run and the pass,” Goodwin said. “Most defensive philosophies are to shut down the run and control the pass.”
Russellville has played well against the Golden Eagles in the past and holds a 15-5 record in the series. The Golden Tigers have a 10-game winning streak and have not lost to Athens since 2000.
Goodwin said the players know the importance of the game, but they have not prepared any different for Athens than they did for Lawrence County last week.
“I don’t know if who we’re playing matters in preparation,” Goodwin said. “We try to prepare for every game the same.”
In the past few seasons Russellville has played Hartselle early in the season and the game has decided the eventual region champion. Russellville lost those games.
This year Hartselle is in a new region and the Golden Tigers and Golden Eagles are two of the favorites to win.
“I hope we do better against (Athens) than we did against Hartselle,” Goodwin said.
