Game Notes for Week 9
No. 2 Hartselle (8-0, 6-0) at (No. 12) Cullman (7-1, 6-0)
Series: Cullman leads 40-37-3 (according to the Alabama High School Football Historical Society, Cullman Times reports the series as 41-36-3)
Last meeting: Hartselle won 27-6 in the second round of the 2010 playoffs
Defense continues among state’s best: Hartselle slipped to fourth after the 49-13 win over Mortimer Jordan last week. If the Blue Devils hadn’t scored on a fumble return, Hartselle would rank second in points allowed per game. In fact, opponents have scored non-offensive touchdowns in the last two weeks. If you remove those scores, the defense has only allowed 40 points this year. Brantley leads the state with a 3.9 points allowed per game average followed by Fyffe (6.0), Muscle Shoals (6.6), Hartselle and Linden (7.0). The Tigers are also 15th in points differential.
Fast starts: Cullman has gotten off to fast starts in its last two games against Curry and Mortimer Jordan. The Bearcats held a 32-7 halftime lead over Mortimer Jordan before winning 46-27. Last week, Cullman forced four Curry turnovers to lead 35-0, including a 90-yard touchdown run, at the break, en route to a 41-14 victory. Hartselle started slowly against Curry, leading 21-7, but quickly turned it into a 55-7 rout in the second half. Against the Blue Devils, Hartselle scored early and often. The Tigers even had the ball with a 42-6 advantage and more than a minute left in the first half. Instead of scoring, Hartselle elected to run out the clock.
Ground game cruising: In the last two weeks, Hartselle has amassed nearly 800 yards rushing. They had 440 against Curry and 348 against Mortimer Jordan. The Tigers have been led by Blake Slayton, who rushed for 277 yards on just 13 carries with four touchdowns. Overall, the Tigers have outgained their last two opponents 1,006-275.
West Point (1-7, 0-6) at Brewer (0-7, 1-6)
Series: West Point leads 17-12
Last meeting: West Point won 43-14 in 2010
Patriot defense struggles: Brewer has allowed more than 40 points in seven of their eight games this season. For the season, they are allowing 49.4 points per game while scoring just 11.3 points per game. In contrast, West Point’s defense hasn’t been much better. They have allowed 28 points or more in all but one game when they defeated Class 4A Good Hope 12-8. The Warriors have fared slightly better on offense, scoring 14.8 points per game.
Tough schedules: Both Brewer and West Point have played teams with outstanding record. Brewer’s eight opponents have a record of 35-29 while West Point’s opponents are 39-25. Both play Class 4A teams to end the season next week.
Priceville (2-6, 1-5) at West Limestone (4-4, 3-3)
Series: Priceville leads 2-1
Last meeting: West Limestone won 60-7 in 2010
Rare series lead: This is only one of four teams the Bulldogs own a series lead against. The four teams they have winning records against are East Lawrence (3-1), Falkville (4-2) and Mount Hope (3-1). Priceville has split with 12 teams while there are 14 opponents they have yet to beat in a game.
Offense doing well: Priceville continues to see a major improvement from last year. To this point, they have scored 204 points in eight games, compared with 156 in 10 games last year. Defense has improved too as they allowed 48 points per game last year and 38.1 this year.
Danville (1-7, 0-6) at Rogers (6-2, 5-1)
Series: Rogers leads 3-0
Last meeting: Rogers won 42-28 in 2010
Cribbs talks with Danville: Coach Scott Curd tweeted yesterday that his team was paid a visit by Joe Cribbs. Here’s the tweet: “Shout out to former NFL and Auburn great Joe Cribbs who visited and spoke with the guys today. Thanks to him for taking the time.” Maybe the visit will inspire his team to play better tonight.
Hawks struggle to score in region: Although the Hawks are averaging 10.1 points per game over the eight games they’ve played, Danville has only scored 34 points in the six region games they have played.
Falkville (1-7, 0-7) at West End (2-6, 2-5)
Series: West End leads 3-0
Last meeting: West End won 53-6 in 2010
Player scores first career touchdown: In last week’s Falkville story, we incorrectly identified the player who caught Falkville’s only touchdown pass of the night. It was Tanner Evans, a sophomore receiver, who caught the 65-yard pass and scored his first varsity football touchdown.The Hartselle Enquirer regrets the error and is happy to set the record straight.
Scoring struggles: Falkville has only scored 52 points in eight games this year for a 6.5 points per game average. Conversely, the Blue Devil defense has struggled to make stops as they have allowed 41.3 points per game, which includes a shutout of Cold Springs.
