Golden Tigers fall to undefeated Fairview
The Russellville Golden Tigers and Fairview Aggies battled Friday night in a key Class 5A region game, and the Aggies came out on top by a 35-28 final score.
The two teams were tied at the half 14-14 but the talented runners of Fairview helped the Aggies defend their home field and stay undefeated.
With the loss, RHS dropped to 3-3 on the season and 3-1 in region play.
After taking the game’s opening kickoff, it took Russellville only four plays to score. A 56-yard touchdown pass from Whit Goodwin to Daniel Aycock put the Golden Tigers on top. David Tomas then added the first of his four successful extra-point kicks of the night to make the score 7-0.
Fairview evened the score on its first drive that finished with a 43-yard touchdown pass on a fourth down trick play.
The following possession for Russellville failed to produce points even though the Golden Tigers had a first down at the Fairview 2-yardline. A RHS penalty put the Golden Tigers farther from the end zone and the drive ended on a missed 29-yard field goal.
The Aggies took a 14-7 lead on a 3-yard TD run to finish the next drive, which lasted 16 plays. The Golden Tigers answered with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Goodwin to Connor Devaney with 5:10 remaining in the first half.
Fairview got the ball to start the second half and put together a long scoring drive that finished with a touchdown run by Jake Harper. Another touchdown by Harper came with less than a minute to go in the third quarter on a fourth down rushing play.
Russellville cut the score to 28-21 with 5:58 to go in the game when Sam Hamilton caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Goodwin. RHS then tried an onside kick, but the Aggies recovered. It took Fairview only three plays after the kick to make the score 35-21 when Harper ran 42 yards for a touchdown.
The Golden Tigers refused to give up and with 1:52 left in the game, Goodwin connected with Houston Askew for a 16-yard touchdown pass, but the following onside kick attempt failed.
“I was really proud of the fight our kids had,” head coach Dustin Goodwin said. “During the second half, they were able to establish their run game and keep the ball away from us a little bit. I was proud of our kids’ fight to make it a sevenpoint game to give us a chance to get an onside kick. We just didn’t make enough plays.”
Next for Russellville will be a non-region contest at Hatton.
