SCHEDULE PREVIEW: Russellville Golden Tigers look to build on past success in 2020
The Russellville High School football team, coached by John Ritter will be joining Class 5A, Region 8, in 2020. RHS is coming off an 8-3 2019 season that ended with a loss in the first round of the 5A playoffs at Scottsboro.
Gone for this year is the long-time rivalry game versus Deshler that has been played each season since 1988 in a series that dates back to 1923. DHS will not be playing football games in August this year because of the coronavirus pandemic; the team was scheduled to visit Russellville Aug. 28.
AUG. 20
DECATUR (AWAY)
Russellville is scheduled to kick off its 100th year of football with a trip to Decatur to take on the 6A Red Raiders. The Golden Tigers are 6-4 all-time versus DHS. The two schools last met in 2007, with Decatur taking the win in overtime.
Russellville’s last trip to Decatur was a win during the 2006 season over a Red Raider team that featured linebacker Rolando McClain, who went on to star at Alabama.
Jere Adcock will be entering his 25th season as head coach at Decatur, and his team finished 2019 with a 2-8 record in Class 6A, Region 7. The Red Raiders struggled down the stretch this past season, losing four of their last five games.
SEPT. 4
MAE JEMISON (HOME)
(REGION GAME)
The Jaguars return to Class 5A in 2020, moving down from 6A.
The two schools have split the series, with Russellville winning in 2016 by a 21-20 score and the Jaguars taking the last meeting in Huntsville 56-10 in 2017.
Mae Jemison made the playoffs this past season but fell in the first round to Cullman by a 20-0 score and finished the year with a 5-6 record. Coach Kelvis White left after the season to take the head coaching job at Bob Jones.
SEPT. 11
BREWER (HOME)
(REGION GAME)
A.P. Brewer is back on the schedule this year as a region game. RHS has dominated the series in the past, 6-0. The two teams haven’t met since 2007, but they played every year from 2002-07, with the Golden Tigers winning them all by a combined point total of 284-46.
The Patriots started this past season 2-0 but lost their last four games of the year and finished with a 3-7 record. Coach Geoff Walters will be entering his sixth season at the helm in Somerville.
SEPT. 18
LAWRENCE COUNTY (AWAY)
(REGION GAME)
Russellville and Lawrence Co. always seem to find themselves in the same region during recent years, and that doesn’t change in 2020. The Golden Tigers and Red Devils have met every season since 2010, and RHS has won each time during that stretch except for 2017, when LCHS came to town and took a 25-6 victory.
Russellville won last year’s contest by a 22-14 score in Moulton, and the Golden Tigers hold a 22-5 advantage in the all-time series. LCHS finished 2019 with a 4-6 record under Coach Rich Dutton.
SEPT. 25
HARTSELLE (HOME)
Coach Bryan Moore takes over the Hartselle program after leading Jasper to a couple of consecutive region titles and wins over RHS in 2018 and 2019. Hartselle finished 2019 with a 4-7 record in Class 6A, Region 8.
RHS has dropped three-straight to Hartselle by a combined score of 116-38, and two of those losses were shutouts. Russellville’s last win in the series came at RHS in 2012 by a 6-3 final score. All-time, Russellville has the advantage, 24-9-1.
OCT. 2
ARDMORE (AWAY)
(REGION GAME)
Oct. 2 Russellville makes the trek to the Alabama-Tennessee state line, where P.J. Wright enters his third year as coach in Ardmore.
RHS leads all-time 4-1, with Ardmore’s lone victory coming in 1937. To say the Golden Tigers have the upper hand in the series would be an understatement. RHS won by a 50-13 score in 2014, 52-0 in 2015, 40-17 in 2016 and 44-6 in the last meeting in 2017.
Ardmore went 2-8 last year in 5A, Region 8. They won their first two games at West Morgan and at Elkmont before dropping their last eight in a row.
OCT. 16
EAST LIMESTONE (HOME)
(REGION GAME)
RHS and East are reunited as region opponents this season after facing off the last two years in jamboree games.
The Indians were 4-6 last season playing in Class 5A, Region 8, but finished the year by winning three of their last four games overall. RHS is 8-2 all-time versus ELHS and has won three straight over the Indians and five of the past six meetings.
OCT. 22
LEE-HUNTSVILLE (AWAY)
(REGION GAME)
The Lee Generals drop down to 5A from 6A after a 1-9 record in 2019. Lee scored 130 points all of last season and gave up 391.
RHS is scheduled to take on Lee this year at Milton Frank Stadium on a Thursday night. Russellville won 10 straight in the series from 2000 until 2016, but Lee High took the last meeting by a 45-0 score in 2017. RHS leads all-time with an 11-3 mark.
OCT. 30
MADISON ACADEMY (HOME)
This will be the first meeting between the Golden Tigers and Mustangs. Madison Academy is led by former Brooks and Hartselle head coach Bob Godsey. He will be entering his second season with Madison Academy after going 5-6 in 2019.
The Mustangs finished the past season by losing their last five games and will be joining Class 4A after moving down from 5A.
