Golden Tigers take down Central High
The Russellville football team wrapped up regular season play with a trip to Florence to take on Central, and the Golden Tigers will head into the playoffs with a lot of momentum after a 62-34 win over the Wildcats.
Zaye Boyd rushed for 285 yards to push his total on the season to 2,011, and the senior back scored five of the nine Russellville touchdowns Friday night to help lead RHS to victory.
The Russellville offense scored on all but two of their possessions in the game, and those drives ended short of the end zone when time ran out in the second and fourth quarters. The Golden Tigers scored on the ground, through the air, on defense and on special teams against Central.
The RHS defense allowed 27 points in the first half but was strong in the second, allowing only one Central score, on the Wildcats’ last possession of the contest.
Russellville head coach John Ritter mentioned after the win Friday night the good work of his offensive line that includes Will Rushing, Noah Pounders, Herson Rodriguez, Edgar Amaya and Jonathan Vargas.
Ritter said he is looking forward to hosting Center Point in round one of the Class 5A playoffs Nov. 9. “I think it’s exciting,” he said. “We went from 3-7 to 9-1, and we get to host a first-round play-off game. Everything that we’ve worked for, most of it has come true, and we’ve got a couple of more things to check off the list before we can put a bow on this thing.
“Very, very proud of our kids and very proud of this coaching staff and this community,” Ritter added.
In the game against Central, first quarter action saw Russellville hold a 20-7 lead to start the game. Boyd scored on runs of 45, 13 and 66 yards in the period. Miguel Flores missed his first extra-point kick of the night but was good on all of his next eight attempts that followed in the game.
After the Wildcats got the score to 20-13 with 6:46 remaining in the first half, Austin Ashley had a long return of the CHS kickoff to set up another Russellville score. After two penalty plays, Boyd scored his fourth TD of the game, this time on a 19-yard run. Central returned the next kickoff for a touchdown and followed that up with an unsuccessful onside kick attempt.
Boyd scored on the next play from scrimmage on a 56-yard run to put RHS up 34-20 with 5:45 left in the half.
After the Golden Tiger defense forced a three-and-out, Devin Buckhalter returned the punt for a TD, and he almost scored again just before the half on a reception of a Lucas McNutt pass, which came up only a couple of yards shy of the end zone as time expired. Buckhalter also had a remarkable one-handed catch during the game on a play that did not stand because of a penalty on RHS.
Central’s first possession of the second half ended with a punt, and it took only two plays for Russellville to find the end zone again. Lucas McNutt scored on a 72-yard run to put his team up 48-27. Three plays later, Buckhalter intercepted a Central pass and took it all the way into the end zone for a score.
On the next CHS drive, Russellville’s Ashaad Williams got his fifth interception of the season. With the game in hand, Boyd ended his night with an 18-yard run for a first down just before the end of the third quarter. He finished the game with 14 carries before he wisely got the rest of the night off with a play-off game on the horizon.
Russellville’s final score of the game came when senior Theran Pounders was on the receiving end of a four-yard touchdown pass from McNutt.
Central got three touchdowns by Dalton Hanback and one each from Parker Witt and Seth Holt to account for their scores in the contest.
