Hartselle’s football team will put its unbeaten record on the line this week for its annual rival clash with Decatur.
The Tigers have started the season 4-0 for the third straight season.
But the No. 4 ranked football team isn’t alone this fall. All four of Hartselle’s fall athletic teams are off to incredible starts this season.
Few schools can boast the kind of success that Hartselle has enjoyed through the first five weeks of the fall sports season.
Football and volleyball are both high in the state rankings heading into the second half of the season.
The swim and cross country teams have also made significant strides this year.
The volleyball team has been ranked No. 2 in the state for most of the season and are a strong favorite to return to the Elite Eight tournament in November.
With just one senior on the roster, Hartselle struggled to a 10-10 record to start the season, but the Lady Tigers have gone 16-3 since with several strong performances in tournament play.
Hartselle’s swim team has started its season off in strong fashion with a pair of wins for the girls in their first two meets of the North Alabama High School Swim League.
Last weekend, Hartselle swept both the boys and girls’ titles at a NAHSSL meet at Alabama A&M University.
Several Hartselle swimmers have already qualified for the state swim meet that will be held at the University of Alabama in December.
The Hartselle cross country team, in its first year of competition since the sport was revived, has been successful from the first meet of the season.
The Tigers opened with team titles at the Austin Invitational and have continued to progress as a team.
Last weekend at the Crimson Classic in Tuscaloosa, the Tigers finished 10th in the girls’ team standings and 11th in the boys’ race despite competiting against a field that was filled with Class 6A schools and consistent state powers.
Hartselle will compete in the sectional meet the first weekend in October.
If all four Hartselle teams can keep up the success, it should be an incredible stretch run.

Sports editor Todd Thompson can be reached at 773-6566 or at todd.thompson@hartselleenquirer.com