Muscle Shoals hands Tigers first loss
By Staff
Todd Thompson, Hartselle Enquirer
MUSCLE SHOALS – Hartselle’s run through the Class 5A, Region 8 lineup hit a snag Friday night when Muscle Shoals ended the Tigers’ 14-game region winning streak with a 17-14 victory at James Hudson Stadium.
Muscle Shoals scored 10 unanswered points in the first half and held off a late challenge to upset the second-ranked Tigers.
The loss was just the second for Hartselle in its last 22 games.
Hartselle looked flat, especially offensively, in the region game. But the Tigers may have been looking ahead to a rivalry showdown with Decatur in the regular season finale.
Hartselle dropped to 8-1 overall and finishes the Region 8 schedule with a 6-1 mark. The Tigers will go into the first round of the playoffs against Albertville in two weeks as the region’s top seed.
Muscle Shoals improved to 6-3 with the win. The Trojans had already earned the fourth seed from Region 8 in the playoffs, but the win may have been the Trojans’ biggest win in a decade.
Rodney Hardin scored on a 1-yard run in the second quarter to give the Trojans their first lead.
Hartselle drove to the Muscle Shoals 18-yard line just before the end of the half, but the drive ended with an interception in the end zone.
Hartselle fumbled the second half kick - the Tigers’ third turnover of the night - and Muscle Shoals took advantage of the miscue with a 40-yard field goal by Zachary Linley with 9:42 left in the third quarter.
Linley had an earlier field goal attempt blocked by Jackson Reeves in the first half. Reeves also had an interception in the third quarter to end a Muscle Shoals drive.
Hartselle drove to the Muscle Shoals 14-yard line after the interception, but were stopped just inches short on a fourth down play.
Hartselle finally scored in the fourth quarter when Will Lang connected with Payton Sittason on a 36-yard touchdown pass that trimmed the Muscle Shoals lead to 10-7.
But the Trojans’ defense came up with an interception that Logan Stokes returned 42 yards for the 17-7 advantage.
Hartselle added a late touchdown on a Lang keeper with 1:10 remaining, but the Tigers were unable to get the ball back.
