Tigers rout Aggies in first round

By By Todd Thompson. Hartselle Enquirer
Hartselle’s swagger is back.
The Tigers, nursing two straight losses to end the regular season, pummelled Albertville 38-7 Friday night in the first round of the Class 5A state playoffs.
Hartselle ended the regular season with losses to Muscle Shoals and Decatur - two losses that came by a total of just 13 points.
But Albertville proved to be the cure for the Tigers’ mini- slump.
Malcom Fossett scored four touchdowns in the win as the Tigers scored 38 unanswered points in the first half.
Hartselle improved to 9-2 overall with the win, the Tigers’ third playoff victory in the last two years. It also sets up a second-round rematch between Hartselle and Athens Friday night.
Hartselle beat Athens 32-22 earlier in the season in a Class 5A, Region 8 game. The Golden Eagles finished third in the region standings and kept their season alive with a win over Boaz in the first round.
All four playoff teams from Class 5A, Region 8 won their first round games Friday. Region 8 was one of just three regions in all six classifications to go unbeaten in the first round.
The Tigers wasted little time in showing Albertville the streak would not reach three games. Fossett scored on a 1-yard run early in the first quarter to cap a drive that was set up by Will Lang’s 60-yard pass to Will Tiffin on the second play of the game.
Hartselle added to the lead with a 27-yard field goal by Dylan Stephenson with 5:09 remaining in the first quarter to give the Tigers a 10-0 lead.
Stephenson’s field goal was set up by a Jake Wallace interception near midfield.
Hartselle’s defense finished the game with three interceptions to keep the Albertville passing attack in check.
Steven Crowe and Jackson Reeves also had interceptions for the Tigers, who limited the Aggies to just 55 yards of total offense in the first half.
Fossett, who finished with 108 yards rushing on 14 carries before spending much of the second half on the sidelines watching the reserves play, added two more touchdown runs in the second quarter to help the Tigers add to the lead.
He scored on a 22-yard run midway through the second quarter and added a 4-yard score four minutes later to push the margin to 31-0.
Tiffin scored his first touchdown of the night just before the end of the half when he took a Lang pass in the end zone for the score. Tiffin had four catches for 122 yards.
Albertville prevented the Tigers’ defense from recording its first shutout of the season when Riley Honea scored with 5:54 remaining in the game.
But the lone touchdown wasn’t enough to dampen a solid effort by the Tigers. It also put to rest talk that Hartselle might have peaked earlier in the season.
But even Godsey was quick to admit that the players needed a good win to regain some of that confidence after a tough two-week span.