Hartselle showed just how quickly it could rebound from last week’s devastating loss to Decatur – no time at all.

The Tigers (4-1, 1-1) showed that during this week’s practice, and it carried over in a 38-6 rout of Grissom at Milton Frank Stadium Thursday night.

It didn’t take Hartselle head football coach Bob Godsey to find out if his team was going to rebound.

“It was evident by Sunday when we met that they were ready to move on,” Godsey said. “I told them that when you lay it all on the line, you have to be able to handle the outcome.”

Junior quarterback Jake Tiffin said the team was ready to get back on the field.

“It left a bad taste in our mouths,” Tiffin said. “We knew we left some points out there last week. We didn’t want to do that again this week.”

The Tigers were sharp and turned all six drives in the first half into points. Less than a minute into the game, Tiffin connected with Jamal Jackson on a 50-yard touchdown pass. Cody Salem added the extra point to give Hartselle a 7-0 lead.

After a three-and-out by Grissom, Taylor Easterling ran in the second touchdown of the night on the ensuing possession.

Tobias Mitchell added the third touchdown of the first quarter with a 17-yard pass from Tiffin.

Tiffin then connected with the other Jackson twin, Jaylan, for a 41-yard touchdown pass moments into the second quarter.

Hartselle had one drive stall in the red zone, but Cody Salem added a 29-yard field goal to push the lead to 31-0.

Then on the final drive of the half, Tiffin finished off a two-minute offensive drive in an unconventional way. After being pressured out of the pocket, he decided to scramble for a first down at first but changed his mind after he saw the field open up.

“Usually, you’re not supposed to run right there, but I saw an opening,” Tiffin said.

His 46-yard scramble for a touchdown helped the Tiger offense finish a near-perfect first half and earn some rest in the second half.

“They played so well that they earned the rest in the second half.” Godsey said. “We needed to give them some rest heading into the final stretch. We dominated all three phases of the game in the first half. That allowed us to substitute and get some of our backups some reps in the game.

“We’re going on three years now that our schedule has been so tough that we haven’t had a chance to get our backups some game experience. I think it has hurt us not getting them in the game more than we have. They can make a difference for us at the end of the year.”

Godsey said they weren’t able to get everyone in the game, but they tried to get as many as possible. With the backups in the game, the Tigers did allow Grissom a touchdown late in the third quarter, but the Tiger defense stepped up to end a drive in the red zone, thanks to a fourth-down sack by freshman nose guard Shamaud Swope.

Zane Green, Jordan Stover and Riley Wood also got a number of carries in the second half. Sophomore quarterback Trevor Oakes took all of the snaps in the final 24 minutes.

“We got better tonight,” Godsey said. “That’s all you can do is to get better from week to week.”

Tiffin said his team will start work for next week’s matchup at Muscle Shoals Friday.

“We’re just going to go back to work and try to get better and get ready for another great team,” Tiffin said.