| Tom Chappell

Caleb Suggs

Hartselle Enquirer

As 2015 comes to a close we begin to look back at all the sporting events that have taken place in the past year. A lot of action has taken place over Morgan County in the past year with a lot of tournaments and championships being won in the process.

Basketball- the year started with plenty of basketball action. The Hartselle varsity girls secured one of the biggest wins for the program in recent history by defeating Priceville to win the Morgan county tournament. This win marked Hartselle’s first Morgan County championship since 2006. West Morgan wrapped the Morgan County title for the boys by also defeating Priceville. The 2014-2015 season ended with the Priceville girls winning the area tournament and the Danville girls advancing all the way to Wallace State for regional.

Baseball and Softball- As basketball ended baseball and softball began. It was a slow year for baseball in Morgan County. Hartselle continued their storied streak by making the playoffs once again but they fell early on to eventual champion the Cullman Bearcats. Falkville made a deep run into the playoffs but fell short of state.

In softball, the Hartselle Tigers looked to defend their state championship. The Tigers won the Morgan County championship and the Area championship but fell short of the state championship in the playoffs. Danville also took home the Area championship while Priceville earned runner up in their Area tournament.

Track- In track Falkville won their third consecutive state championship.

Golf- The Hartselle high school boys brought home the schools first gold championship for boys this year. With that win, the Tigers continued the school’s streak of winning state championships. Hartselle has now won a state championship in at least one sport for seven straight years. Hartselle has won a total of 10 championships in those 7 years.

Volleyball- In volleyball several Morgan County team’s looked to make a run at state including the Danville Hawks who were the defending state champions in 3a. Danville took home the area championship and advanced all the way to the state semi finals. In a best of five series, the Hawks fell behind 0-2 but they managed to come from behind and force a game five. However, the Hawks would fall despite their tremendous effort. The Hartselle Tigers would also attempt to make a deep run after taking their Area and Regional Championships. Just like Danville Hartselle would also make it to the state semi finals before being narrowly defeated by John Carroll Catholic.

Football- it was a good year for Morgan County in football. The Hartselle Tigers had a bit of a down year but still managed to advance to the playoffs despite the being in the very tough 6a region 8. Falkville and Priceville both had delivered some of the most successful seasons in the school’s history. Priceville tore apart the offensive record book behind the arms and legs of senior quarterback Kaleb Barker. Priceville took home the school’s first ever region championship. Falkville also went on a nice winning streak, winning several close region games to set up a matchup with the undefeated Tanner Rattlers for the region title. Both Priceville and Falkville went into their ninth game of the season with an 8-0 record. Priceville would fall to D.A.R. in double overtime and then to West Point a week later. The Bulldogs’ great season would end in the first round of the playoffs when they narrowly defeated by the Hamilton Bulldogs in the final seconds of the game. Falkville also fell in the ninth game, as they couldn’t get past Tanner. Falkville also lost their cross county rivalry fame to Danville the next week. Falkville did become the only team from Morgan County to advance past the first round of the playoffs but they would lose in the second round to eventual semi finalist Randolph County. The Austin Black Bears would be the biggest surprise in Morgan County. After defeating eventual 7a runner up Spain Park in week 1, the Black Bears would lose three of their next four games. However, Austin would get things turned around and ride a hot streak all the way to the class 6a semi finals were they faced the Clay Chalkville Cougars who hadn’t lost in 28 games. In one of the most packed out football games in high school history Austin narrowly missed their first state championship game since the 1980’s as they lost 45-35.

The most influential story of this year in sports came out of Danville. The Hawks narrowly missed the playoffs but the small community was more focused on a different battle. Danville student and football player Kane Hogan was diagnosed with Leukemia back in the spring. The community of Danville has placed their complete support behind Hogan as he fights this big battle. Hogan was named Sports Illustrated’s athlete of the month this year in the month of September. As of now, Kane is still fighting strong.