Tigers wrap up playoff spot with 37-15 win over West Point
By Staff
Justin Schuver, Hartselle Enquirer
Hartselle wrapped up its second straight trip to the Class 5A postseason with a 37-15 win over West Point Friday night at J.P. Cain Stadium on Senior Night.
The Tigers (4-5, 4-3 in Region 8) started the year with three straight losses but responded with strong play down the stretch and will qualify for the playoffs as the No. 4 seed from Region 8. Hartselle will face Cullman in the first round of the postseason – the Bearcats beat the Tigers 45-20 earlier this season.
"We just got off to a rough start," Hartselle coach Bob Godsey said of the Tigers' 2007 season so far. "What happens after this point, I don't know, but it's a compliment to this team that they were able to dig themselves out of a hole like that. A lot of teams would have cashed in the rest of the season after starting 0-3, but these kids aren't like that.
"They continued to show up every week and work hard, and they've been rewarded for it with this playoff berth."
West Point (1-8, 0-7) got on the scoreboard first Friday night. The Warriors stopped Hartselle's opening drive on fourth down and took over on the West Point 47-yard line. Twelve plays later, Cody Brunkenhoeffer kicked a 29-yard field goal to give the visitors an early 3-0 lead.
Hartselle responded with a touchdown of its own to make the score 7-3 after one quarter, and then added three more touchdowns in the second quarter to pull away.
"With their record coming in not being very good, that's probably a reason we started slow," Hartselle quarterback Luke Bole said. "But we picked it up there at the end of the first quarter and got on a roll and finally started playing the way we should play."
Bole put Hartselle on the scoreboard when he scored from 1 yard out with 1:00 left in the first quarter. On West Point's ensuing possession, the Warriors fumbled on the first play from scrimmage and the Tigers took over on the West Point 30-yard line.
Seven plays later, Marquez Jones scored with a 5-yard run and the Tigers led 14-3 with 11:00 still to play in the first half.
Hartselle added two more rushing touchdowns in the second quarter. Bole scored on a 7-yard run and Montrell Murphy had a 3-yard run – Tyler Bennich was 4-of-4 on first-half extra points as the Tigers led 28-3 at halftime.
Hartselle's defense stepped up at the start of the second half as the Warriors mounted a strong drive. West Point faced fourth-and-4 from the Hartselle 9 when Manquez Jones broke up a Luke Persall pass intended for Drew Butler.
Junior Nikko Stover then brought the Hartselle crowd to its feet as he took the handoff from Will Lang and cut around the right side for a 91-yard touchdown run.
Bennich added a 32-yard field goal with 3:41 remaining in the third quarter to close out the scoring for Hartselle. West Point scored 12 points in the fourth quarter on touchdown runs from Persall and Laterrick Williams.
"It was a little bit sloppy, but at the same time, coming into this game we wanted to take care of business and get a win and that's what we accomplished," Godsey said. "I'm happy that our seniors went out on a good night."
Hartselle has one regular season game remaining. The Tigers will take on Huntsville (8-1) at Goldsmith-Schiffman Stadium in Huntsville tonight at 7 p.m.
Tiger notes:
"I just hate it for Kramer, really I do," Godsey said. "He's a guy who worked extremely hard; he showed up during the summer to do extra work and that sort of thing. It's been really tough on him, but he's a strong guy and he'll get through it."
