• 57°
franklin county times

Spartans prove too much for Golden Tigers, ending season

The Russellville Golden Tigers hosted the Pleasant Grove Spartans in round two of the AHSAA Class 5A football playoffs, and the season came to an end for the home team at the end of the contest.

Russellville fought to stay close with the highly-ranked and talented Pleasant Grove squad in the first half, but the Spartans were ultimately able to pull away for the 37-14 win.

The 10-1 Pleasant Grove group, which has played for the 5A state championship three years in a row under head coach Darrell LeBeux, proved to be a difficult matchup for the 7-5 Russellville team – or as Russellville head coach John Ritter put it, “We ran into a buzz saw.”

“They are really, really good up front on both sides, and we struggled,” Ritter said. “That’s because that’s a team that has played for three-straight state championships and looks poised to play for a fourth.”

PGHS scored first to a take a 7-0 lead with 4:29 remaining in the first quarter on a 19-yard touchdown run. Russellville tried to answer on the next possession when quarterback Harrison Burch completed two consecutive passes for good yardage. A few plays later, Burch connected with Randell Johnson on fourth down to get the ball to the Spartans’ 11-yard-line. But after three consecutive incomplete passes, the Golden Tigers attempted a 28-yard field goal; it was blocked, and Pleasant Grove returned it for a touchdown. A successful two-point try followed, and the Spartans were up 15-0 late in the first period.

A 13-yard TD pass grew the advantage to 22-0 before Russellville got another opportunity for points. The Golden Tigers got the ball down to the PGHS 10-yard-line but failed to score.

The Russellville defense would force a punt on the next possession, and the Golden Tigers scored on the following drive when Burch threw to a wide-open Tilmon Baker for a 46-yard TD. That made the score 22-7 with 1:39 to go in the first half.

In the second half, two Pleasant Grove touchdown runs in the third quarter grew the Spartans’ lead to 37-7.

The Russellville passing connection of Burch to Baker would strike again in the game’s final period – this time for a four-yard touchdown to make the final score 37-14 with the addition of the Manny Martinez extra-point kick.

As the season ended, Ritter talked about this year’s group of seniors, who he described as a group of warriors. “What a fun bunch,” he shared. “We’ve only got 11 seniors, and that’s a third of what we normally have, just because it’s a small class in general – but what a fun group and an absolute joy to coach.”

Franklin County

PROGRESS 2024: Veteran Spotlight – Mousey Brown

News

Russellville First Baptist Church receives historical marker

Franklin County

PROGRESS 2024: Meeting a higher standard – Russellville High School JROTC

News

RCS BOE announces new superintendent  

News

Miss Dream Girl Pageant names winners

Franklin County

First Metro Bank hosts FAME Girls’ Ranch donation drive

News

PCHS holds annual Shelby Grissom Memorial Fashion Show

Franklin County

PROGRESS 2024: VFW Post 5184 – ‘No One Does More For Veterans’

Features

Supporting students’ futures

Features

Red Bay Garden Club discusses amaryllis planting

Franklin County

UA announces local students for fall 2023 President’s, Dean’s, graduation lists

News

School news

Franklin County

PROGRESS 2024: Veteran Spotlight – Troy Oliver

Franklin County

Appropriations bill passes, allots more than $3 million for new Russellville library/multipurpose center 

Franklin County

Franklin County Cattlemen’s Association names Cattleman of the Year 

Franklin County

Franklin County votes: Unofficial March 5 primary election results 

Franklin County

Funding for new Russellville library, multipurpose community center expected this week

Features

Faces of Franklin County: BTCPA

News

GFWC Russellville Book Lovers Club sponsors downtown art crawl

Franklin County

PROGRESS 2024: Veteran Spotlight – Cody Bragwell

Franklin County

42nd annual Miss RHS pageant names winners 

News

Miss RHS pageant takes place Friday

Franklin County

Political announcement: David Hester speaks about run for reelection as county commissioner

Franklin County

BTCPA auditions for final production of season take place March 3-4 

x