Russellville takes down Hatton to win first football meeting of the schools

The Russellville Golden Tigers and Hatton Hornets met for the first time on the varsity football field on Friday night, and RHS got the win by a 56-8 final score.

RHS (5-2) fell behind 8-0, but held 4A Hatton scoreless the rest of the way, and the Golden Tigers piled up yardage and points during the non-region home game.

After Hatton scored on a 13-yard quarterback run and a two-point conversion pass on the first possession of the contest, the Golden Tigers answered with a touchdown drive of their own that was capped by a 28-yard scoring run by quarterback Whit Goodwin. The first of eight extra-point kicks on the evening by Manny Martinez made the score 8-7 with 7:02 remaining in the first quarter.

Russellville took the lead on the first play of their next offensive possession when Goodwin passed to Gunner Sappington for a 37-yard touchdown. Then, an interception by Russellville’s Jah Williams stopped the next HHS drive. Four plays later, RHS standout running back Cam Phinizee entered the game for the first time on the opening snap of the second quarter and ran 42 yards to the end zone, but a holding penalty on the Golden Tigers canceled the touchdown.

The two teams later traded turnovers as Richard Scott of RHS recovered a fumble but the Golden Tigers quickly fumbled the ball back to Hatton on the next play and Sappington intercepted a pass by the Hornets soon after. With 7:08 remaining in the first half, Phinizee scored on a 38-yard run to make the score 21-8.

After RHS was intercepted on the first possession of the second half, Zay Hubbard returned the favor with an interception of his own to give the ball back to the Golden Tigers. Russellville struck for another score when Goodwin found an open Ty Willis for a 51-yard touchdown pass with 8:17 left in the third quarter. The Golden Tigers later added a 30-yard touchdown run by Phinizee to make the score 35-8.

The fourth quarter featured a short touchdown pass from Goodwin to Jah Williams, a kickoff return fumble recovery for a touchdown by Hubbard and a 43-yard touchdown run by Tarus Davis of RHS.

“I did think we still made some mistakes in the first half,” Russellville head coach Dustin Goodwin said after the win. “We challenged them at halftime to clean some things up and keep playing hard because it’s not an effort issue, and it never is with these guys, but I thought we played a much cleaner game in the second half.”

Next, the Golden Tigers will return to region play with a trip to West Point to take on the Warriors Oct. 18.