Senior Quarterback Deacon Aldridge looks to throw while head coach Bob Godsey gives instruction during a summer scrimmage. Aldrige is the Offensive Player of the Year. | Brent Maze

If you were around Deacon Aldridge or Thomas Fleischman on a Friday night after a football game this fall, you might hear the two breaking down the game on each side of the ball.

They didn’t wait for the coaches to break down the game film. Aldridge and Fleischman would already know what they needed to work on.

“We’d usually go out to Huddle House, Waffle House or somewhere like that after the game,” Fleischman said. “Then, we’d usually spend the night talking with each other about what we could have done better on each side of the ball.

“Sometimes we might critique each other as well.”

That comraderie between the two is what helped Hartselle to another third-round berth in the state playoffs and is the reason why the two were named the Hartselle Enquirer Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year.

While Aldridge said it was disappointing that they didn’t get a chance to defend their state championship in Auburn, he still felt like the team had a good season.

“It was a tough season,” Aldridge said. “But we kept fighting and kept grinding throughout the entire season.”

And grinding is exactly what Hartselle did. While the Tigers may have played the toughest schedule in Class 5A, they still battled each week and finished 8-5.

Fleischman said the reason why he had so much success is due to Blair Sittason.

“We worked really well together,” Fleischman said. “If I didn’t get him, then he did. If he didn’t, then I did.”

For Aldridge, the signature moment of the season may have been at Fort Payne.

“We didn’t want to go one-and-done,” Aldridge said. “We felt like we could still get back to the state championship game even when nobody was giving us a chance (in the first round against Fort Payne).”

Check next week for the all-area team.