The Russellville Golden Tigers opened the 2023 varsity football regular season with a 35-12 victory over the Grissom Tigers on senior night.

On a hot evening, a large home crowd witnessed a standout performance by sophomore running back Cam Phinizee. With the help of excellent blocking from the RHS offensive line, Phinizee scored four touchdowns and rushed for a total of 270 yards on 31 carries.

The Golden Tigers gained 370 yards during the contest and the stingy Russellville defense held 7A Grissom to 174 total yards with the visitors going 0-7 on third down conversion attempts. Grissom’s only touchdowns came on a kickoff return to begin the second half after trailing 21-0 at the break and on an interception return for a score on the next possession.

“What a great team effort,” Russellville head coach John Ritter said after the win. “We didn’t know what they were going to run offensively and with the defensive staff, we coached our guys on the basics and I thought we did really, really well playing our base defense. Hats off to Coach Statom (RHS defensive coordinator) and his staff and all those guys.”

The Russellville head coach was also excited by the play of his young running back and the blocking by the Golden Tigers on offense. “What a breakout game for a sophomore,” Ritter said of Phinizee’s performance. “I think it’s a testament to the offensive line. We had a lot of o-line questions coming into this year and I think they answered. They rang the bell and what a physical group they are.  They were fun to watch and Cam ran hard. Same thing with him; worked his tail off, matured and reaped the benefits.”

Russellville grabbed a 7-0 first quarter lead when Phinizee scored on a 10-yard run. The touchdown was followed by the first of five successful extra-point kicks by Manny Martinez during the game. The second touchdown was the result of a 1-yard push by Phinizee on the second snap of the second quarter.

Grissom rushed for a large gain to begin the following possession but it was followed two snaps later by a fumble that was recovered by Russellville’s Malachi Duncan. After both teams later traded punts to end drives, Duncan made another contribution on a fake punt by gaining a first down on a run. The big special teams play led to Phinizee’s third TD, this time on a 9-yard run with 1:06 remaining in the first half.

A blocked extra-point kick and a failed try for two by Grissom after the team’s early second half scores made the total 21-12 until Phinizee found the end zone for the fourth time. His 2-yard scoring run came with just over five minutes left in the third period.  On the next Grissom possession, Russellville’s defense created another fumble that was recovered by Matthew James.

The fourth quarter featured a strong tackle by Martin Tomas of RHS on a fourth down play to turn the ball over on downs and a 1-yard touchdown run by Zaye Eggleston with 1:56 left on the clock to finish the scoring.

Next for the Golden Tigers will be another non-region game. RHS is scheduled to host Deshler Sept. 1 after the Tigers from Tuscumbia opened the season with a loss to Madison Academy.