By Staff
Scot Beard
Russellville football fans will see something they have become accustomed to the last few years when they head to Russellville Stadium tonight.
The Golden Tigers will host Cullman tonight in the state semifinals.
Russellville coach Doug Goodwin said the Bearcats will have a strong offense.
"They are real good on offense, the quarterback is accurate and they have four good wide receivers," Goodwin said.
Cullman's quarterback, Tyler Caldwell, has led his team to its second-consecutive semifinal game and has passed for more than 3,000 yards the last two years.
Defensively, Cullman is lacks size.
"They are not the biggest defense we've played, but they are solid," Goodwin said. "They play a similar style to Hartselle."
One of the things that stands out to Goodwin is Cullman's special teams play.
On kickoffs, the Bearcats do not kick deep, which will give the Russellville offense good field position following kickoffs.
After last week's win against Hartselle, some fans might expect the Golden Tigers to come out flat this week, but Goodwin said his team understands the importance of this game.
"They know they are playing in the semifinals," Goodwin said. "Last week was big, but week is even bigger in the scheme of things."
Another thing Goodwin is seeing in his team is their desire to practice.
He said some teams get wore down by this time of the year and coast through practices, but this squad is still working hard.
While he is impressed with his teams' efforts, he is hoping the crowd will bring quite a bit of enthusiasm to tonight's game.
"A home field advantage needs to be a home field advantage," Goodwin said. "Cullman get rowdy. The people in the stands need to help us out."