Hartselle cruises past Decatur for another region win

For the Enquirer

The Hartselle Tigers cruised to a 50-0 win over Decatur last Friday at Ogle Stadium. It was the largest margin of victory since 1950 in the series and was the first shutout in the series since 2003 when Decatur blanked the Tigers 16-0.

“This was a big win for us tonight,” coach Bert Newton said. “We came out focused on what we needed to do and followed through with our gameplan.” The scoring started with a safety when Decatur’s punter stepped out of bounds in the endzone. Chandler Keel put the Tigers up 9-0 with a twoyard plunge. Keel’s touchdown was set up by a Chris Hutson blocked punt. They increased their lead to 16-0 when Hutson intercepted a Decatur pass and returned it 26 yards for a touch-down.

The Tigers added 27 points in the second quarter to build a 43-0 halftime lead. Quarterback Noah Lee had a one-yard touchdown run and a 26-yard touchdown pass to Markus Tapscott to extend the lead to 29-0. Cain Falciani added a 35-yard touchdown run, while Jai Morrow had a two-yard scoring run for the 43-0 lead.

Morrow added a careerlong 37-yard scoring run in the third quarter for a 50-0 lead.

The Tigers finished with 368 yards of total offense, rushing for 217 yards and passing for 151. The defense held Decatur to 98 total yards of offense, 49 rushing and 49 passing.

Morrow led the Tigers with 71 yards rushing and two touchdowns, while Jaheim Pruitt had 46 yards rushing. Whit Chrisler added 23 yards and Ethan Thorne had 20.

Lee finished 7-of-10 for 141 yards and a touchdown. Tapscott finished with three catches for 95 yards and a touchdown, while Falciani had two receptions for 19 yards and Cole Miles had one catch for 12 yards.

The defense had 16 tackles for loss with Porter Simmons leading the way with four and a sack. Jameson Falciani led the team with 10 tackles, while Eli King added seven.

“The defense flew around tonight and Decatur had a hard time moving the ball,” Newton said.

The Tigers’ defense has recorded three consecutive shutouts for the first time since 2011, when Hartselle won the 5A State Championship.

The Tigers (3-1, 2-0) will host Woodlawn (0-5) on Thursday night for homecoming before jumping back into region play on Oct. 4 with a trip to Cullman.