Hartselle's secret? Just keep chopping

By Staff
Justin Schuver, Sports Editor
The Tigers’ uniform might bear a resemblance to those worn by Alabama and the team might share the nickname of Auburn, but Hartselle’s inspiration for this season might actually be a team from the Big East.
Jones was referring to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, a Division-I team that is currently undefeated and has been one of the biggest surprises of the year. One of the reasons has been the mantra of head coach Greg Schiano, who entreats his players to just “keep chopping wood” anytime things look bleak.
In its most recent game, Rutgers trailed by 18 points to a higher-ranked and favored Louisville team. But as Jones said, the Scarlet Knights continued to chop away and eventually won the game 28-25 on a last-second field goal. In the same way, the Tigers all season long have responded to adversity by just continuing to “chop away.”
In Hartselle’s season opener, the Tigers trailed Austin 17-10 with 5:36 left in the game.
Chop, chop, chop. Hartselle tied the game with 3:49 remaining and eventually won in triple overtime.
Against Athens, the Golden Eagles held a 10-point lead with 4:46 left in the third quarter.
Chop, chop, chop. Hartselle scored touchdowns on three of its next four possessions and eventually took the win on the road 35-31.
Against J.O. Johnson, Hartselle trailed at halftime 7-3 after a first half where the Jaguars appeared to dominate on both sides of the ball.
Chop, chop, chop. The Tigers forced two key turnovers in the second half and bottled up the Jaguars’ offense en route to a 26-15 win.
And Friday night in the first round of the playoffs, Hartselle was down 14-7 at halftime to Benjamin Russell.
Chop, chop, chop. The Tigers shut down the Wildcats in the second half and ran the ball at will on the way to a 24-14 victory.
But don’t think the Tigers are done chopping yet. There are still four big trees in their way.
Here’s this week’s picks:
Hartselle Tigers (10-1, 6-1 in Region 8) at Gardendale Rockets (7-4, 6-1 in Region 6): Looking at the numbers, this appears to be a very even matchup. Hartselle outscored its regular season opponents 292-185 and Gardendale outscored its opponents 285-176 during the regular season. Those regular season opponents had a combined record of 48-52 for Hartselle and 47-53 for Gardendale. Each team played Cullman, with the Tigers winning 28-14 and Gardendale winning 30-20. Both teams obviously come from talented regions, as Region 8 teams were 4-0 in the first round of the playoffs and Region 6 teams were 3-1. It should be a good game between two very good teams…Tigers 31, Rockets 20.
Auburn Tigers (9-2, 5-2 in SEC) at Alabama Crimson Tide (6-5, 2-5): From my vantage point, Auburn seems to have trouble beating SEC teams who use primarily a running offense while Alabama seems to have trouble beating any SEC teams. Both teams are scuffling lately, but the best rivalry in the country has a way of bringing out the best in both these teams. If Alabama can get Ken Darby and the rest of the running game going against Auburn, the rest should fall into place. Having a raucous home crowd at Bryant-Denny makes the difference…Crimson Tide 24, Tigers 21.
Army Black Knights (3-7) at Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9-1): Just like last year, Notre Dame has a bye week before the USC game…Fighting Irish 48, Black Knights 7.