One step closer

By By Todd Thompson, Hartselle Enquirer
No one was more relieved than Bob Godsey when the Tigers polished off Muscle Shoals early in a 44-6 victory at J.P. Cain Stadium.
The win capped a string of three straight blowouts where Hartselle coaches went deep into the bench in the second half while the starters celebrated early.
Hartselle has won the last three games by a combined score of 126-12.
Now Hartselle gets back to business with a rival game against Decatur at Ogle Stadium tonight.
The Tigers will try to wrap up their first perfect regular season since the 1979 team went 10-0 before losing in the first round of the playoffs.
Hartselle earned the Class 5A, Region 8 championship outright with the win over Muscle Shoals. The Tigers, who are guaranteed to host playoff games through the first two rounds of the playoffs, will host Scottsboro at J.P. Cain Stadium a week from Friday.
Marquez Jones scored five touchdowns to lead the Tigers in the win over Muscle Shoals. The senior running back, who now has 24 touchdowns in nine games, finished with 134 yards rushing on 14 carries.
Jones fumbled the football on his first attempt in Hartselle’s opening possession, but he was nearly perfect the rest of the night.
Jones scored on a 15-yard touchdown run on his next carry to give the Tigers a 6-0 lead over the Trojans.
He added touchdown runs of 29, 37, 4 and 14 yards to help the Tigers put the game out of reach early.
Dylan Stephenson added a 22-yard field goal in the second quarter as Hartselle cruised to a 37-0 halftime advantage.
Malcolm Fossett added a 1-yard touchdown run in the second half to push Hartselle’s advantage to 44-0.
Fossett added 88 yards rushing on eight carries in the win.
Hartselle turned the ball over just twice in the game, both on fumbles. Muscle Shoals had nine fumbles and turned the ball over to the Tigers five times.
The Tigers dominated the game on the ground against the overmatched Trojans. Hartselle piled up 246 yards rushing with 12 first downs.
The defense limited Muscle Shoals to just 68 yards of total offense.
Muscle Shoals scored its only points of the game on the final play of the game against Hartselle reserves.
Now Godsey expects to get back to full four-quarter battles in the next two weeks.