Tigers roll to 51-0 homecoming win over Woodlawn
For the Enquirer
The Hartselle Tigers cruised to a 51-0 win over Woodlawn on homecoming to improve to 4-1 this season. The shutout was the Tigers’ fourth consecutive, a feat that was last accomplished in 1921.
“I am proud of how the team remained focused this week,” Hartselle coach Bert Newton said. “Homecoming week is always special for our community and this week was no different. With it being a shortened week, the team kept their eye on the goal and picked up another win.” The Tigers recovered the opening kickoff at the Woodlawn 26-yard line to start the game. It took the Tigers a little more than two minutes to get on the board when Jaheim Pruitt scored on a seven-yard run for a 7-0 lead with 9:59 left in the first quarter.
Less than two minutes later, Hartselle capitalized on tremendous field position following a 28-yard Woodlawn punt. Noah Lee connected with Markus Tapscott for a 39-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead with 8:20 remaining in the first.
Hartselle pushed their lead to 21-0 with 3:25 remaining in the first when Pruitt capped off a seven-play scoring drive with an eightyard touchdown run.
With 9:46 remaining in the first half, Lee connected with Tapscott for a 13-yard touchdown pass. The scoring drive was three plays and took less than a minute. Lee and Tapscott con-nected for their third touchdown pass of the game, this time a season-best 49-yarder, giving Hartselle a 35-0 lead with 5:17 left in the first half.
Hartselle capped the first half scoring with a threeyard touchdown run by Carter Lee as time expired in the first half, giving the Tigers a 42-0 lead heading into halftime.
The Tigers’ only score in the third quarter came when TJ Sanders blocked a Woodlawn punt out of the endzone for a safety, extending the Hartselle lead to 44-0.
The final score of the night came late in the fourth quarter when freshman EJ Muhammed scored on a short touchdown run to give Hartselle a 51-0 lead.
Woodlawn made one final effort to put points on the board, but the defense with freshmen and sophomores on the field kept the Colonels off the board with a fourth down stop.
Hartselle’s offense finished with 367 yards of total offense, 155 yards rushing and 207 yards passing.
Ethan Thorn led the Tigers’ rushing attack with 50 yards on nine carries, while Jai Morrow had 41 yards on six carries. Pruitt finished with 25 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries.
Noah Lee finished 6 of 10 for 177 yards and three touchdowns, while Carter Lee was 6 of 9 for 30 yards. Tapscott led the receivers with three receptions for 101 yards and three touchdowns. Trammell Hurley had three catches for 53 yards and Brady Holt had one for 28 yards.
The Hartselle defense limited Woodlawn to 177 yards of total offense, 117 rushing and 60 passing. The defense finished with eight sacks and 16 tackles for loss.
Porter Simmons had two sacks and four tackles for loss to lead the defensive effort. Sanders finished with two sacks, three tackles for loss and a blocked punt. Jace Preuitt, Noah Gibson, Austin Payne and Justin Metz also had sacks for the Tigers. “The defense has played lights out the last four games,” Newton said. “It is hard to get a shutout in today’s game, but to get four in a row is a special feat.” Hartselle (4-1, 2-0) will travel to Cullman (3-3, 1-2) to continue region play on Friday.
