Golden Tigers take down Lee-Huntsville
The Russellville Golden Tigers hosted the Lee-Huntsville Generals Friday night, and the two teams played a half of football before lightning and rain stopped the game, with RHS taking a 41-6 win.
Russellville got the ball first to start the contest and immediately went on a scoring march that finished with a 20-yard touchdown run by Conner Warhurst. Cristhian Cano added the first of his five successful extra-point kicks of the game to make the score 7-0 with 9:41 to go in the first quarter.
After the RHS defense forced a quick punt by the Generals, the Golden Tigers used the passing of Gabe Amick to Nathan Brockway and Peyton Ray to set up their next score. The drive finished with the second Warhurst TD of the night when the running back found the end zone from 43 yards out halfway through the first period.
On the following kickoff, Daniel Martinez saw the opportunity for an onside kick, and he recovered it himself, but RHS was forced to punt soon after. Two plays later, Caden Watts intercepted a Lee-Huntsville pass to get the ball back for Russellville.
Boots McCulloch returned to action after missing time this season with an injury, and he ran the ball a couple of times on the next RHS drive that featured a fake punt on a run by Cole Barnett for a first down. Four plays later, Warhurst was into the end zone again, this time on a 17-yard touchdown carry, to make the score 21-0 early in the second quarter.
It didn’t take long for the Russellville defense to create another turnover when the Lee quarterback was sacked and fumbled the ball to Brody Logan. The Golden Tigers quickly made the Generals pay when Amick fired an 11-yard TD pass to Nathan Brockway for another score.
The only Lee-Huntsville touchdown of the night came on the Generals’ next possession, on a 65-yard scoring run with 9:19 left in the second period. Russellville finished up the scoring with a 9-yard Warhurst TD run halfway through the second quarter and a 2-yard scoring push by Caleb Mathews that came with 24 seconds left before the half.
With Warhurst, Mathews and McCulloch, Russellville has a strong running attack. “We’ve got three guys that we feel really good about,” said Russellville head coach John Ritter. “The best thing about it is they are very unselfish. They are each other’s biggest fans, and if we continue to do that, then we have an opportunity to be deadly on offense because we can play three backs through four quarters that are going to be fresh in the fourth quarter.”
The contest was the final region game of the season for Russellville, and the Golden Tigers finished with an unblemished record of 6-0 in region play. RHS is 8-1 overall.
A home game scheduled against 4A Madison Academy to close out the season was canceled Oct. 27 after RHS noted coronavirus symptoms in several football players. Football team members were directed to quarantine, and the high school moved to virtual education through Nov. 9.
As of Oct. 27 afternoon, the RHS team anticipates playing in the Class 5A playoffs Nov. 6 as scheduled.
