Hartselle’s Casey Goodwin brings down a Mortimer Jordan running back in the Tigers’ 48-7 rout of the Blue Devils Friday at J.P. Cain Stadium. Hartselle improved to 6-0 in region play with the victory.

Hartselle’s playoff situation is solid right now.
Mortimer Jordan’s hopes got a little more precarious after top-ranked Hartselle thrashed the Blue Devils 48-7 Friday night at J.P. Cain Stadium
Hartselle scored four touchdowns in the second quarter to quickly take control of the game. The Tigers improved to 7-1 overall and 6-0 in region play with the win.
“We kind of got off to a little bit of a slow start,” said Hartselle head coach Bob Godsey. “I don’t know, things just weren’t clicking really. There was no panic from our kids and we just settled down and kind of got things going rolling there in the second quarter.”
The win was the third straight for the Tigers and marked the third straight time that the Hartselle defense had limited its opponent to seven points our less. Over the past three weeks, the Tigers have outscored opponents 150-20.
“One reason our offense has done so well this season is that we practice every day against that defense,” Godsey said. “Those guys have made us better offensively because we see them every day.”
The Tigers were nearly perfect in the win. A first-half turnover ended the Tigers’ streak of quarters without a turnover at eight, but the Hartselle defense kept Mortimer Jordan from capitalizing on the miscue.
Senior Will Lang completed nine of his 13 attempts in the win and finished with 234 yards through the air. He threw four touchdown passes – all in the first half.
“We saw a lot of man coverage out of the secondary a lot and in the past we have kind of struggled with man,” Godsey said. “People put seven guys in the box and we have trouble running it and then we have trouble beating man coverage. We’re getting better at those kind of things. We had plenty of time to throw the ball.”
Hartselle overcame a slow start to grab a 7-0 lead in the first quarter when Lang hit Tiffin with a 69-yard touchdown pass.
Tiffin finished the night with two catches for 102 yards before spending the rest of the game on the bench when Hartselle went deep into its bench.
Sydney Steele added three catches for 66 yards in the win. Isaiah Fowler, Chance Partlow, Jackson Reeves and Jeston Thompson also caught passes for the Tigers.
Hartselle caught fire in the second quarter and quickly put the game out of reach.
Hartselle added to the lead in the second quarter with a 79-yard touchdown run by Fossett.
Fossett finished the night with 151 yards on the ground with just 12 carries.
Fowler recovered a fumble that set up a 33-yard touchdown pass from Lang to Tiffin for the 21-0 advantage.
Lang added two more touchdown passes in the quarter to give Hartselle a commanding 35-0 lead at the half. He threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Sydney Steele and a 26-yarder to Fowler with 26.7 seconds left in the half.
Gavin Marsh, who hit all six of his extra point attempts, had five PATs in the first half. Marsh has now made 30 of his 31 extra point attempts this season.
Hartselle tacked on another touchdown early in the third quarter with a 6-yard run by Fossett.
The Tigers’ final touchdown came on a 50-yard touchdown run by Blake Slayton with 32 seconds left in the quarter.
Mortimer Jordan scored its only touchdown of the night with 9:14 remaining in the game on a short run by Jordan Mack against the Hartselle reserves.
Hartselle’s starting defense has not allowed a point since a fifth-week loss to Decatur and the Tigers are allowing just 8.4 points per game, lowest among Class 5A schools in the state.
“Our goal is to not give up any points period,” said Hartselle linebacker Jake Kimbrell. “We’re just trying to keep that going.”