By Staff
Lindsay Vaught, Sports Correspondent
FLORETTE – Second-ranked Russellville made it look easy in their 46-0 victory over Brewer last Friday night at Patriot Field in Florette. Actually it would have been much worse had Golden Tiger head coach Perry Swindall not brought along plenty of reserves to use in the second half after jumping out to a 40-0 halftime lead. Brewer gift-wrapped three first quarter turnovers and Russellville turned them into 21 points. The Patriots are now 1-7 and Russellville goes to 8-0.
Russellville needed only three plays to move 52 yards on the first possession as quarterback Jake Tompkins hit Durrell Fuqua on a 2-yard pass for a touchdown. Russellville scored again two minutes later, moving 19 yards with Curtis Hamilton going over the top from the two-yard line on a drive set up by an interception of Brewer quarterback Samuel Mason. Mason suffered a groin pull in the second quarter and left the game. His status for this weeks' game at Athens is doubtful.
After a penalty pinned Russellville on their 9-yard line Tompkins showed why he is considered one of the top quarterbacks in the state. He hit Jonathon Witt on a 60-yard pass. Two plays later Fuqua ran 32 yards for a touchdown. Tompkins closed out the first quarter with a 31-yard TD pass to Fuqua and the rout was on. Chris Swinney kicked all the extra points as Russellville led 28-0.
Brewer finally gained a first down with 4:15 of the second quarter, but on the next play Mason was leveled and fumbled. Hamilton got his second touchdown on a 16-yard run to end the first half scoring. Brewer, which gained over 300 yards last week, was held to 26 yards in the first half and would end the game with zero passing yards
"We played a great football team and knew it would be an uphill battle," Brewer head coach Robert Peppers said. "I'm still proud of our guys for making the sacrifices they make to be football players. I know its painful losing like this but sometimes you got to just play for pride, keep your head up and try to make something positive happen." There were few positives for Brewer,
See Brewer, B-5