Golden Tigers take down Wildcats 48-13
By Brannon King / For the FCT
The Russellville Golden Tigers scored touchdowns six of the first seven times they had the football Friday night on their way to a dominating 48-13 home victory over the Hayden Wildcats.
It was the second consecutive week the Golden Tigers faced an opponent they had never met before on the football field. With the win, RHS improved to 3-0 on the season and 2-0 in Class 5A, Region 7 play.
“I think we came out and played extremely hard,” said Russellville head coach John Ritter. “We set the tone early, and that’s really what we wanted to do – establish our strangle-hold on this game.”
The Golden Tigers took a 41-7 lead into the half and did indeed set the tone. After the Wildcats gambled on the opening kickoff of the game with an unsuccessful onside kick attempt, RHS needed only five plays to find the end zone. Zaye Boyd took a handoff from Lucas McNutt and went 37 yards for the game’s first score.
After forcing an HHS punt, Russellville scored again a couple of plays later when McNutt went 63 yards on a TD run. Hayden blocked the extra-point kick, but with 6:51 remaining in the first quarter, RHS led 13-0.
The Wildcats got their first touchdown on their next possession on a 43-yard run on a third-down play. Russellville looked to be heading back toward the goal line on the next drive, but it came up short because of a fumble after a pass completion deep inside Wildcat territory.
The RHS defense stood strong, and a Hayden fumble on the next possession that was recovered by RHS’ Donald Ramson stopped the drive.
On the next play, RHS’ Boyd scored his second TD of the game, this time on a 15-yard carry. The Kenner Perez extra-point kick made the first quarter score 20-7.
Plenty of action followed on the next kickoff, as both teams were penalized for personal fouls and a Hayden player was ejected from the game.
Less than a minute into the second quarter, Russellville’s Devin Buckhalter took a Hayden punt at mid-field and went all the way into the end zone for a touchdown that excited the home crowd. The Russellville defense continued making plays on the next HHS drive and had a near interception by Ramson and quarterback sacks by Will Rushing and Nate Green.
A Gage Cook fumble recovery for RHS was sandwiched between two more Russellville touchdowns – one on a 25-yard pass from McNutt to Buckhalter and the other on a seven-yard TD run by Austin Ashley.
The final Russellville TD of the night came on the Golden Tigers’ first possession of the third quarter, when Boyd scored on a 49-yard run and Perez added the PAT.
The Golden Tigers will travel to West Point Friday night to take on the Warriors in another Region 7 contest.
