Spring game gives RHS first look at young talent
By Brannon King – For the FCT
The Russellville Golden Tigers traveled to Jacksonville State University to take on Saks High School in a spring football game May 19. The two teams’ varsity squads played the first three quarters of the contest with the Saks team coming away with a 23-20 win. The fourth quarter allowed the opportunity to reset the score and for the junior varsity players to see action, and Saks outscored Russellville 6-0 in the final quarter.
“Having the opportunity to just go through the spring was good with so much going on with all the different spring sports,” Russellville head coach Mark Heaton said. “It’s tough to get all the kids and coaches together, so I think we ended up with a total of seven practices, and we went and played a game.
“Anytime you get to hold spring practice, it’s good. It’s really good for our young kids, and we’re really going to have to depend on a lot of those incoming ninth graders to give us some snaps.”
Getting the chance to play a game against the potentially strong 4A Saks team on Burgess-Snow Field at JSU Stadium could be a valuable experience for the young RHS squad. “Going through the spring and being able to play in the kind of atmosphere that we did at Jacksonville State was crucial for the development of all of us but especially the younger guys,” Heaton said.
The Russellville offense will rely heavily on star running back Zaye Boyd and will have a new signal-caller this upcoming season because of the graduation of starting quarterback Payton Nichols. Devin Buckhalter, fresh off of the baseball diamond and track and field team, started the game at quarterback for RHS. “He’s our leading receiver from last year, and right now, we feel that he’s the best fit to take snaps (at quarterback),” Heaton said. “Devin can do a lot of different things; he’s a very versatile kid. We’ll go into the summer, and he’s still our quarterback.
“I thought he did a tremendous job with the short period that he had. Then, we transitioned a little bit and played Luke Barnwell a little in the third quarter with the starters and moved Devin out to receiver where he played last year, and he made some big plays,” Heaton said. “He’s a natural fit for that spot, and I think that’s where he’ll play at the next level.
“The development of Luke Barnwell will be crucial, too. If we can get where he can give us some snaps and we can utilize Devin in other areas offensively, it’s going to make us better as a team, and I think we saw that in the third quarter.”
Offensive line will see new faces in the starting lineup. Four of the five starters have graduated, including star blocker Austin Stidham, who signed to play at Troy University. “We moved John David Aycock over from defensive line, and I thought he did a really good job of transitioning. He’s going to get better every day,” Heaton said. “John David Palmer, the only returning starter we have back on the line, played well at times.”
Defensively, Russellville will be looking to find depth at some key positions. “Getting Jeff Lloyd and Will Rushing back up front will really help us a lot with depth on the defensive line,” Heaton said. “I think what the defense did a great job of is that when our back was against the wall in the third quarter, they came up with two turnovers, and that gave us a chance to get the ball and have a chance to get back into the football game. I felt that if we had another quarter with our older guys, we would have had a great opportunity to win the football game.”
The 2017 season will get underway this fall when RHS travels to 6A Athens for a jamboree game in late August before opening the regular season with a trip to Tuscumbia to take on Deshler Sept. 1.
