Tigers smother Curry
By Staff
Charles Prince, Hartselle Enquirer
If this keeps up, Tiger head football coach Bob Godsey may soon have an ulcer.
For the second straight week the Hartselle Tigers fell behind by two touchdowns in the opening period of play, before coming back for a 42-20 win.
"We're still making a lot of young mistakes, but I saw some bright spots tonight," Godsey said.
The Curry Yellow Jackets jumped to a 12-0 lead by taking advantage of two Tiger miscues.
The first was a bad snap and the second a fumble by tailback Justin Youngblood. After spotting the visitors the lead, Hartselle would scored on six of its next eight possessions.
On the first Tiger scoring drive, the offense drove 70 yards in 10 plays.
The touchdown came on a two-yard run by fullback Gary Orr with 18 seconds remaining in the first period. When Patrick Whatley was true on the conversion the Tigers trailed byfive.
Hartselle would take the lead on the game's longest play just two minutes later.
After forcing a Curry punt, the Tigers found themselves on their own seven-yard line. Quarterback Seth Watson then kept the ball on an option play and speed 93 yards for a touchdown and the lead. With the point-after, Hartselle was ahead 14-12.
The two teams would trade scores just before halftime, as Curry went on top 20-14 with 1:27 till intermission, on a six-yard pass from Nick Meyers to Corey Hall. The Tigers would strike back only 47 seconds later when Watson found Youngblood on a screen pass, which covered 55 yards for a Hartselle score.
With the conversion Hartselle took the lead for good at 21-20.
In the final two periods of play Hartselle shutout the Yellow Jackets 21-0.
"We told 'em at halftime to take care of the ball on offense and make tackles on defense," Godsey said.
"I thought we tackled a lot better in the second half, but we still had some mistakes on offense."
The Tigers blew the game open in the third period when Watson found Orr on a six-yard scoring pass.
The play ended a five-play 35-yard drive. The lead grew to 35-20 when Youngblood scored from the six to end a six-play 40-yard drive, which was set up by safety Chris Wiley's interception.
Youngblood would close out the scoring when in the fourth period he sped 55 yards to the end zone, following Wiley's second pass theft of the night.
Youngblood would finish with 137 yards on 16 carries, his second game over the century mark of the season.
Watson finished with 107 yards rushing on four carries, in addition to throwing for 147.
"We've got to get some things corrected. But, we'll take it, it's a win," Godsey said. "The mistakes we made tonight, we have to learn from them and eliminate the bad plays.
We need to put four good quarters together. Especially with the big game we've got next week."
The win upped the Tigers record to 2-0 and 1-0 in 5A, Region 8 play.
Hartselle hosts Russellville, in a key region game, this Friday at 7 p.m.
