The Hartselle Tigers got off to a fine start by defeating Tuscaloosa’s Hillcrest High by a 14-11 score Friday night. Football has been an important part of community life for about a century and the high school coaches who guide the teams are crucial both for the number of wins they get and the kind of character that the young men develop who are entrusted to them.

Feb. 1, 1928 – Clarence Pettey will captain Falkville’s football 11 during the fall, 1928, campaign.

Aug. 15, 1930 – Coach Shorty Long is getting ready for his initial season as MCHS football coach.

Sept. 4, 1941 – Coach Kermit Mathison has arrived to begin his duties as coach of the football team at MCHS.

Jan. 6, 1944 – Reported as missing in the fall of Java two years ago, Capt. “Ike” Parker, former star quarterback and alternate football captain at Auburn, has only last week been heard from. He is in a Japanese internment camp at Moulmein No. 5, Burma. Capt. Parker is a former high school football coach at Morgan County High School for the year 1937-38.

Aug. 5, 1948 – New Tiger Coach H. L. Paul is hard at work preparing for his first season at the helm of the MCHS football program.

Jan. 20, 1949 – The Tennessee Valley Athletic Conference was formed in Decatur tonight. MCHS was represented by Coach J. C. Pettey.

May 21, 1953 – Coach Tony Daniel is preparing for his first season as head football coach at MCHS, checking on the main things he learned from spring training.

July 15, 1954 – MCHS football coaches Tony Daniel and J. P. Cain are putting in long hours for what they hope will be a successful fall ’54 Tiger grid campaign.

Aug. 23, 1956 – Coaches Tony Daniel and J. P. Cain Friday met 34 boys who reported out for football as candidates for this year’s edition of the Tiger 11 this afternoon. Eleven are out for backfield positions, while 23 are trying for line spots. This will probably change later as the coaches decide where the boys are best suited. The spirit seems to be very high as light practice was held this week for the boys to get in shape. Aldridge, Tapscott, Burch, McElroy, Roberts and Buckelew really looked as if they had been keeping in shape this summer. One bright prospect for the coming season is Willard Lipsey who has transferred from Huntsville High, where he played B-team ball.

Aug. 22, 1957 – With plenty of experience distributed all along the line, the big problem at MCHS for Coaches J. P. Cain and Brub Hamilton to work on is to polish up a proficient backfield. And the hunt for a quarterback is going to get first attention when football practice officially begins this Friday. Coach Cain has 13 lettermen back for the seven line positions, including Captains David Buckelew, end, and Sherman Burch, guard. There are six lettered backs, including Tommy Ed Roberts, who was a star sophomore tackle last year but is being groomed for fullback this year.

Jan. 16, 1958 – At the annual football banquet tonight, Coach J. P. Cain singled out for recognition the three Tiger gridders that made the All-T.V.C. team – Tom Ed Roberts, Don Aldridge, and Jimmy Mayfield.

April 3, 1969 – David “Bucky” Pitts is preparing to begin his first season as MCHS head football coach soon.

March 16, 1972 – Alabama head Coach Bear Bryant will speak at tomorrow night’s football banquet.

Feb. 14, 1980 – Don Woods has been named MCHS head football coach replacing David “Bucky” Pitts.

Aug. 1, 1980 – After 69 years MCHS became Hartselle High today. The football team will still be known as the Tigers.