By Staff
Charles Prince
The Hartselle Tigers recorded a 19-16 win over the Huntsville Panthers Thursday night at J.P. Cain Stadium, in the 2005 spring football game for both schools.
Hartselle High head football coach Bob Godsey was pleased with what he saw, even though the final score was not important.
The Tigers forged a 10-point lead in the opening period thanks to a pair of five-play drives. The first covered 77 yards, which ended in a touchdown, while the second covered 44 yards ending in a field goal.
With 9:50 remaining in the opening period, Hartselle took over at the 23-yard line thanks to defensive end Steven Paulos recovery of a Panther fumble.
On the first play of the drive, quarterback Tony Weaver keep on an option play around the left side and raced 61 yards to the Huntsville 16. Runs of seven yards by Montrell Murphy and eight yards by Weaver put the ball on the one-yard line. Murphy busted throw the middle of the line on the next play for the score. Ray Canafax added the point after.
The next drive was setup by Michael Reed's
interception at the Huntsville 49-yard line.
On the drive's initial play, quarterback Cline Thompson found Troy Colman for a 42-yard gain to the Panther seven-yard line.
But, the drive would stall and Canafax would split the uprights from 21 yards out for a 10-point cushion.
Huntsville would knot the game at 10 before halftime. The Panthers took over with 5:29 remaining in the second quarter and marched 44 yards in 10 plays to the Tigers nine-yard line. The Hartselle defense would hold and forced Huntsville to settle for three points on Matt Ingerson's 27-yard field goal.
The Panthers would tie the score after a fumble recovery at midfield. Huntsville scored in five plays, the touchdown coming on fourth-and-goal five-yard pass from JB Economy to AJ Walker.
Ingerson's point after tied the game with 15 remaining in the opening half.
The Panthers took the lead with 4:40 left in the third period when Joe Fleming broke loose for a 66-yard scamper on a quarterback sneak.
The point after was wide right and the Panthers lead by six.
The Tigers would answer back with a seven-play 70-yard drive highlighted by a 51-yard run by Wes Chenault to the Huntsville two-yard line. Marquez Jones scored on the next play with a run off tackle. Canafax's point after gave the Tigers a one-point lead, 17-16.
Hartselle's freshman defensive lineman Russell Powell would close out the scoring with 57 seconds left in the game, when he tackled Jeremiah Fuqa in the end zone for a safety.
Weaver would finish as the Tigers' leading rusher with 82 yards on six carries, while Chenault had 73 yards on six tries. Murphy gained 47 yards on 15 carries, while Thompson gained 11 on three carries. Jones had three yards on three carries.
Colman caught two passes for 49 yards, while Andrew Howard caught one pass for 43 yards. Chase Taylor caught two passes for 19 yards, while Will Chappell had one catch for 14 yards.
Luke Bole and Thompson completed two passes for 56 yards each, while Chenault completed one pass for 12 yards and Weaver completed one for seven yards.
On defense, linebacker Reed had a quarterback sack to go along with interception. Jeff Witt had two pass breakups, while Johnny Jones and Tyler Watson had one each.
Several Tigers made big hits on defense including linebackers Travis Clemons and Matt Zartuche.
Godsey said the key to success for his Tigers this fall is the effort they give in the summer workout program.