Russellville football uses balanced attack to shut out Brewer
The Russellville Golden Tigers kept their 2020 unbeaten streak alive Friday night with a 59-0 home victory over the Brewer Patriots. In 12 quarters of football played so far this season, the RHS defense has not allowed a point.
Including a forfeit win earlier in the season, Russellville is now 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the region. The Golden Tigers were strong again on defense for coordinator Chris Balentine Friday night. Additionally, the offense totaled 359 yards against the Patriots, including 209 rushing and 150 through the air with no turnovers.
“Offensively and defensively, I thought we did a lot of really good things,” said Russellville head coach John Ritter. “It’s never as good as it seems on film, and it’s never as bad as it seems on film, so it will be a great teaching tape.
“We’ve got to keep improving because we’ve got a big one next week at Lawrence County.”
It took two plays for the RHS team to get onto the scoreboard against Brewer. Quarterback Conner Warhurst made defenders miss on his way to a 43-yard touchdown run, and Daniel Martinez added the extra-point kick to quickly give RHS enough points needed for victory on this night 30 seconds into the contest.
Two plays later, the Russellville defense caused a fumble, and the Golden Tigers had the ball back. Caleb Mathews converted the turnover into points with a 10-yard TD carry to put RHS up 13-0 with 10 minutes remaining in the opening quarter.
The next Patriot drive ended with a mistake on a punt attempt, and on the next play, Warhurst scored again on a keeper. The 12-yard run and Martinez PAT had the Golden Tigers up 20-0 less than halfway through the first period.
Brewer’s following possession ended with RHS’ Ashaad Williams partially blocking a punt, and the Golden Tigers were looking to add to the lead. Gabe Amick found an open TJ King for a 10-yard scoring pass. Martinez added the extra point, and Russellville had a 27-0 lead.
With 1:57 remaining in the first quarter, Banks Langston scored his first touchdown as a Golden Tiger on a 38-yard reception of a Warhurst pass. The PAT kick was good, and RHS was in total control of the game.
After another Brewer punt, the Golden Tigers scored again, and it took only two plays to make it happen. A highlight move on a reception by TJ King allowed for a 78-yard touchdown race to the end zone that was won by the Russellville receiver. With 9:37 remaining in the first half, RHS had a 40-0 lead.
The defense created another opportunity for the Golden Tigers when Karson Hyde intercepted a Brewer pass. Nine plays later, RHS scored when Malachi Duncan found the end zone on a 1-yard TD carry just before the half.
The second half featured a running clock to help keep things moving along as the Golden Tigers continued to dominate. After the two teams traded punts on their first possession of the third quarter, Russellville’s Ashton Boyd recovered a backward Brewer pass and raced 20 yards into the end zone to put the Golden Tigers up 53-0 as Cristhian Cano added the extra-point.
The final scoring play of the night came when Duncan took a handoff and scored on a 3-yard carry with the help of the Russellville offensive line.
