Unbelievable!

By Staff
Hartselle scores 21 points in 4th quarter to pull off 28-24 win over Gardendale
Justin Schuver, Hartselle Enquirer
GARDENDALE — At the start of the fourth quarter Friday evening, with their Tigers down 24-7 on the road at Gardendale’s Driver Stadium, the Hartselle fans started to chant, “We want a comeback!”
Their team was listening.
Hartselle scored three unanswered touchdowns and forced three turnovers and a punt block in an explosive fourth-quarter comeback to give the Tigers a hard-fought 28-24 win in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs. The go-ahead score came with 4:04 left when Hartselle’s Michael Reed recovered a fumble and ran it 2 yards into the Gardendale end zone.
Hartselle advanced to the third round of the playoffs for the first year since 2002. They will face Athens at J.P. Cain Stadium this Friday at 7 p.m. During the regular season, Hartselle defeated then-No. 5 Athens on the road, 35-31.
The Tigers took an initial 7-0 lead on Tyler Young’s 21-yard touchdown reception from Wes Chenault in the first quarter. The Rockets responded with 24 unanswered points, including 17 points off an uncharacteristic three turnovers by the Tigers.
With a little more than four minutes left in the first half, Chenault fumbled and the loose ball was recovered by Gardendale’s Jon Carter and three plays later Desi Washington’s 12-yard touchdown run tied the game for the Rockets. Hartselle’s Marquez Jones returned the ensuing kickoff to the Gardendale 35, but on the very next play from scrimmage Jones failed to catch a backward pass and the Rockets recovered the loose ball.
Hartselle’s defense stiffened to hold Gardendale to a 30-yard field goal by Evan Kreider to put the Tigers down 10-7 at halftime.
On the opening play following Hartselle’s second half kickoff return, Jones was held up by a group of Gardendale defensive players which allowed Josh Headley to grab the ball away from Jones in the scrum. Headley returned the fumble 52 yards and the Rockets were up 17-7 just 23 seconds into the third quarter.
Gardendale added another touchdown with 4:13 left in the quarter when Conner McCain found Bobby Williams for a 21-yard touchdown catch. Things looked especially bleak when Hartselle was held to a three-and-out on its next possession. Gardendale maintained possession for the remainder of the quarter and entered the fourth quarter up 24-7 and with the ball on the Hartselle 28-yard line.
One play into the fourth quarter, the Tigers got a spark of hope.
Rocket backup quarterback Adam Erwin, who replaced a an injured McCain at the start of the fourth quarter, was intercepted by senior cornerback Trey Stephenson in the end zone to give the Tigers new life.
Stephenson’s interception put Hartselle at the Tiger 20, and six plays later Chenault found Quinn Dunlap behind the Rocket defense for a 55-yard touchdown reception that pulled Hartselle to 24-14 with 10:07 remaining in the game.
On Gardendale’s next possession, the Tigers blocked a punt attempt to put Hartselle in fantastic field position on the Gardendale 37-yard line. On third-and-10, Tony Weaver made a 19-yard catch and one play later Jones took it in for the score from the Gardendale 19. Following Ray Canafax’s extra point, the Tigers trailed 24-21 with 5:04 remaining.
Canafax’s kickoff went into the end zone for a touchback, and three plays later Reed’s fumble recovery for a touchdown put the Tigers ahead for the first time since the first quarter and sent the Gardendale sideline and fans into a stunned silence.
The Rockets still had their chances to win the game, however. On their next possession, the Hartselle defense forced Gardendale to turn the ball over on downs after Erwin threw an incomplete pass on fourth-and-2 from the Hartselle 38 with 2:05 remaining. But the Tigers were held to three-and-out on their next possession and Gardendale got the ball back with 29 seconds left on its own 32-yard line.
One play later, Dunlap intercepted an Erwin pass with 19 seconds left and Chenault ran a quarterback kneel to run out the rest of the clock.
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