Jordan Stover breaks free during Hartselle’s game vs. Lawrence county. | Tom Chappell

Weather can’t delay Tigers from big win

Caleb Suggs

Hartselle Enquirer

Mother Nature seems to be high school football’s biggest opponent this year so far. Last week the Hartselle Tigers had to fight through a torrential rainstorm in order to defeat the Cullman Bearcats. This week the rain held off during the game, as the Tigers traveled to Lawrence County, but the lightning didn’t. Lightning forced the game into three different weather delays, and the game didn’t begin till around 8:30 p.m. However, the long delays couldn’t dampen the spirits of either fanbases and when kickoff did finally happen, the fans were electric.

Lawrence County took the ball first but could go nowhere as Hartselle forced a three and out. The Tigers would take the ball and quickly move into Lawrence County territory as a pass interference call and a couple catches by Mac Meyer had them at the Devil’s 20. Jordan Stover would bang it in a few plays later to give Hartselle the 7-0 lead.

Lawrence County would get it going on the next drive when the Red Devil’s running back found a hole and burst through to tie the game 7-7. Hartselle would move back into the redzone the next drive but would stall and turnover on downs. After forcing another three and out, Hartselle would move quickly back into the redzone. Trevor Oakes would then find Meyer once again for a 20 yard score to put Hartselle up 14-7. The defense would continue to hold their own, as they would not allow a first down. Meanwhile, the offense would struggle to get out of their way. The Tigers would move into the redzone two more times but penalties and other mishaps would force them to settle for field goals. Hartselle would take a 20-7 lead at the half.

As the second half started, Hartselle would try to get back in rhythm. Oakes would find Garrett Wade for a huge catch to put Hartselle in the redzone again. Oakes would run it in a few pays later to put Hartselle up 27-7. Just a little while later, Lawrence County would cough up the football and the Tigers would jump on it. Stover would run it in a few plays later to make the score 34-7. Hartselle’s final score would come from Connor Landers as he ran the ball in to put Hartselle up 41-7. The Tigers would have another chance to score when cornerback Keondre Swoopes leaped over a receiver to make an interception and returned it over 50 yards inside the Red Devil’s 10 yard line. However, penalties would push the Tigers back and Hartselle would turnover on downs. Lawrence County would get one more score late in the fourth quarter but Hartselle would cruise to the win 41-14.

After the game, head coach Bob Godsey was happy with the way his team handled adversity. “I’m proud of our guys. It was a different night with a lot of tough things happening but they found a way to play through” Godsey said, “when you come off a big game against Cullman and come into this game with three different delays it can make things difficult.” Godsey would continue. “We didn’t play as clean a game as we did last week and we never really got going offensively but we still found a way to put points on the board which is good.” Hartselle will open up region play next week as they host Athens.

Player of the game: Mac Meyer. It was a tough night for the Tigers offensively, while they did move the ball, they struggled at times to put it in the endzone. However, a big bright spot was sophomore receiver Mac Meyer. Meyer didn’t see much action last week against Cullman but made the most of his extended playing time this week as he led the Tigers with 50 yards receiving which included a 20 yard score. Meyer also came up with some clutch catches that helped the Tigers convert third downs.