Hartselle battles to win over Devils

By By Todd Thompson, Hartselle Enquirer
Hartselle avoided what could have been a perfect storm when the Tigers battled to a 22-13 victory over Cordova at J.P. Cain Stadium Friday night.
With a long list of players battling through flu-like symptoms all week, rain that forced several practices inside and a secondary that was without safety Jackson Reeves, the Tigers were prime for an upset at the hands of the Blue Devils, the third-ranked team in Class 3A.
The Tigers overcame a 7-6 deficit in the second half with a pair of touchdowns to finally dispatch Cordova, a team that had reached the Class 3A state championship game the last two years.
But hampered by turnovers and stalled drives, the Tigers hardly looked like a team that came into the non-region game with 16 wins in its last 17 games.
Cordova has won 30 of is last 35 games dating back to the 2007 season, but two of those losses have come against Hartselle.
Hartselle finally broke the scoreless tie when Payton Sittason caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Will Lang with 1:12 left in the second quarter to give the Tigers a 6-0 advantage.
Lang finished the night 21-of-24 passing for 249 yards with nearly half the completions going to Sittason.
Sittason had nine catches for 125 yards in the win.
Cordova went in front in the third quarter when Jacob Howton scored on a short keeper that made it 7-6.
It was the first time that Hartselle had trailed in the second half this season.
But the Blue Devils’ offense was hampered with the loss of standout tailback Ryan Smith, who was injured in the first quarter and never returned.
Hartselle answered with an 8-yard touchdown pass from Will Lang to Malcom Fossett in the third quarter. The two-point conversion - another pass from Lang to Fossett - pushed Hartselle’s advantage to 14-7 with 1:09 remaining in the quarter.
The touchdown was set up by a pass interference call on a throw from Lang to Will Tiffin.
And it was a lead the Tigers would never relinquish.
Cordova kept within striking distance after Heath Garrett had a fumble on a Blue Devils’ keeper fall into his lap in the end zone to trim the lead to 14-13.
Fossett’s 19-yard run late in the fourth quarter was enough to seal the victory.
Fossett finished with just 51 yards on the ground as Cordova worked to limit the Tigers’ tandem of Fossett and James Seiglock.
But the Tigers turned to its passing game and finished with 344 yards of total offense in the team’s fifth straight win.