By Staff
Jonathan Willis FCT Staff Writer
LEIGHTON - One of north Alabama's greatest rivalries was renewed Friday night when the Russellville Golden Tigers made the short trip down Highway 48 to take on the Colbert County Indians.
This time there was no Terry Pounders punt return for a state championship winning touchdown. There was no last second Chad Sears to Marcus Hill hail-mary reception needed. And, no, there weren't any Steve Stanley jaunts down the sideline to ruin Russellville fans' evening.
This time the outcome was never in doubt as the second-ranked Golden Tigers cruised to a 42-0 win at C.T. Manley Stadium in the first meeting between the schools since 1999.
In the latest version of the Russellville-Colbert County rivalry, it became quite clear that Russellville (9-1, 7-0) has taken huge strides in becoming a dominant 5A program and separated itself from the 3A Indians.
After a scoreless first quarter, Russellville's high-powered offense kicked into high gear, led by junior quarterback Jeremy Helms' five touchdown performance. Helms finished the night with 333 yards passing and no interceptions.
Helms opened the scoring with 9:37 to play in the first half when he hit freshman fullback Mike Abernathy for a 9-yard touchdown. Chris Swinney's PAT was blocked and the Golden Tigers led 6-0.
Colbert County responded with a drive deep into Russellville territory before turning the ball over on downs. That's when the Golden Tiger offense took control of the game.
Russellville marched 94 yards in just six plays, taking 2:46 off the clock.
The drive was capped off by a 43-yard touchdown pass from Helms to Abernathy. The two-point conversion made it 14-0 with 3:01 left to play in the half.
Russellville got the ball back with 44 seconds remaining in the half but were 84 yards from the end zone. As it turned out, Helms only needed 36 of those seconds as he hit Jarrell NeSmith in stride in the end zone for a beautiful 41-yard touchdown pass. Swinney's PAT upped the Russellville lead to 21-0 at the half.
The Golden Tiger defense wasn't going to be outplayed by their offensive counterparts and posted their first shutout of the season.
The Russellville offense piled on 21 more points in the second half, beginning with the opening drive. Helms hit senior tailback Maurice McCulloch for a 20 yard touchdown pass with 9:43 left in the third quarter. Swinney's kick made it 28-0.
The Golden Tigers' starting offensive unit added one more score just as the final quarter began when Abernathy took another Helms' swing pass 29 yards for his third touchdown reception of the night. Swinney's PAT made it 35-0.
Russellville closed out the scoring with 4:14 left in the game when Roge Bedford hauled in a Corey Trapp touchdown pass from three yards out.
Swindall said that even though the Golden Tigers hadn't played Colbert County the past few years, the players still know what the rivalry means to the community.
The Golden Tigers finished the regular season with a 9 game-winning streak and is 38-2 in regular season games over the last four years.
Russellville will host the Gadsden Tigers next Friday in the first round of the state playoffs. Gadsden enters the playoffs as the fourth seed from region 6.