By Staff
Hartselle beats Lawrence County 35-13 in final regular season contest
Nick Johnston, Hartselle Enquirer
MOULTON – Perhaps Mike Smith breathed a sigh of relief after Friday night's game against Lawrence County.
"I'm glad we got out of here with a win and nobody hurt," the Hartselle High School head coach said. "It wasn't a good game, we slopped around."
Smith said he wasn't pleased with his team's performance, but his Tigers (8-2) came away with a 35-13 win over Lawrence County (2-8).
"We didn't play good," running back Jeremy Orr said following the game. "We should have beat them by at least four or five touchdowns."
Sophomore quarterback Seth Watson got the start. Kevin Jones, the normal starter, suffered an ankle injury against Cullman and was held out of the game as a precautionary measure.
"He (Jones) could have went tonight," Smith said. "He's about 100 percent, but we didn't want to take that chance."
Watson completed 4 of 9 passes for 62 yards and a touchdown, but the story of the night, perhaps, was Orr's running.
The senior rushed 17 times for 127 yards and three touch-downs. Most of his yards and all three of his scores came in the first half.
"It was real hard to get motivated, but we should have come out here and handled our business," he said. "We just weren't in the right mind tonight."
Orr's 127 yards puts him at 942 yards for the season. It was his fifth multi-touchdown game and the second game this season he has reached the endzone three times.
Orr's one-yard plunge with 9:03 remaining in the first quarter gave Hartselle an early lead, but Lawrence County was able to respond with a 14-play, 74-yard drive that ended with Jeremy Helms reaching the endzone on a quarterback keeper. Lawrence County failed on a two-point conversion attempt, as the Tigers retained a slim 7-6 lead.
Orr's scoring runs of five and 29 yards in the second quarter gave the Tigers a 21-6 advantage at halftime.
Many reserves saw action in the second half, but not before Watson found Nikita Stover in the endzone for his first touchdown pass of the season.
"I had fun out there," Watson said. "We didn't do that good, but at least we come away with a win."
Michael Scott scored for Hartselle with 6:49 remaining, giving Hartselle a 35-6 lead.
See BURN, B-1