Tigers thrill in open scrimmage

Published 5:37 pm Friday, August 21, 2015

With school starting last Wednesday, there were some mixed emotions throughout the city of Hartselle. However, when Saturday rolled around whatever those feelings were they quickly turned to excitement, as fans got ready for the annual Meet the Tigers preseason scrimmage. An early afternoon rainstorm didn’t dampen the spirits of players or fans as they packed out the Hartselle Intermediate school gym. The event began at 5:00 with the introduction of the Hartselle High School cheerleaders and then the varsity football players. Then everybody feasted on hamburgers and hotdogs prepared by the Hartselle booster club. Then the real action began. As fans packed out J.P. Cain Stadium, Hartselle did everything it could to create a real game atmosphere for fans and players alike including bringing in official AHSAA referees. With the Tiger nation watching the scrimmage kicked off with no usual practice protection, as every player was full speed and fair game. The first offense then took the field to do battle against the first team defense. The action was fast and physical and there was a lot of give and take but ultimately the offense drove down the

field and capped off the drive with a touchdown score by Jordan Stover. The Tigers then focused on getting the second string, third sting and special teams some work before sending the first string back out. Head coach Bob Godsey has mixed feelings about the scrimmage. “It was just like any another scrimmage,” Godsey said. “If the offense does good you worry about the defense and if the defense does good you worry about the offense. The good thing was we had several guys make plays, the bad thing is we also had a lot of mistakes that we are going to have to fix,” he added. Every Tiger on the Hartselle roster saw action in the scrimmage Saturday. However, maybe more importantly was the amount of players that found their way on the field with the first team offense and defense. “For a lot of guys this was their audition,” he said. “We have to find out who we can count on.” Godsey continued, “The more guys we can play the better will we be, some guys may not be ready right off but that doesn’t mean they wont be ready four or five games into the season.” Overall, Godsey feel his team is in a good position. “If tonight is the best we will get then we won’t be a very good team,” Godsey said. “But I think if we can improve every week then we will be pretty good, he continued.” The Tigers are going to have to be ready early as they will be thrown into the fire early with a trip to Pinson Valley to face the Indians Friday at 7 p.m. Hartselle has not lost an opener since 2007 and they don’t plan on that streak ending anytime soon.