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Athens led the No. 1 team in the state for three quarters Friday night at Golden Eagle stadium. In that final quarter, Hartselle showed why it deserves the ranking as the Tigers escaped Athens with a 23-8 victory.
Athens led 8-7 for most of the game, but could not muster enough offense in the fourth quarter to stay with Class 5A’s No. 1 team.
Johnnie Anderson scored on both sides of the ball for Athens and was responsible for all of the Golden Eagles’ points on the night. The junior sparked a big second quarter for AHS, forcing a safety and catching a 45-yard touchdown pass to give his team the lead.
Despite Anderson’s big night, Hartselle’s defense shut down the Golden Eagles in the second half, holding Athens to 26 total yards after halftime. Trailing entering the fourth quarter, Hartselle outscored Athens 16-0 in the final 12 minutes of the game.
The Athens defense had a stellar night of its own, forcing two turnovers, a safety and limiting Hartselle to 1-of-4 on fourth-down attempts.
“We played a great game for four quarters. Our guys played our guts out,” said Athens head coach Allen Creasy. “They were just a little bit better in that fourth quarter. But if we do what we’re suppose to do, we’ll play them again.”
After Hartselle scored on its second possession of the game, Paul Chambers picked up a loose ball to give Athens the ball at its own 27-yard line near the end of the first quarter. The Golden Eagles put together a 15-play, 80-yard drive that ended on a fourth-down incompletion at the Hartselle 3-yard line. The seven-minute possession featured 10 Tarik Malone runs and two successful fourth-down conversions.
Malone was Athens’ workhorse, carrying the ball 22 times for 79 yards in the loss.
Anderson regained momentum for Athens two plays later when he burst past the line of scrimmage to drop a Hartselle ball carrier for a loss in the end zone, resulting in a safety.
Anderson provided another spark just before halftime when the junior receiver made something out of nothing on a third-and-20 play from the Hartselle 45-yard line. Quarterback Harper Ward connected with Anderson at the 35 and the junior did the rest, racing down the sideline for the go-ahead touchdown.
“Johnnie is big part of what we do,” Creasy said. “He made plays on both sides of the ball for us tonight. He’s the heart and soul of this team.”
After Hartselle regained the lead on a John Holt 26-yard field goal, Nicholas Mitchell gave the Tigers a 17-8 lead when he returned an interception 51 yards for a touchdown. The lead proved insurmountable, as Athens could not move the ball on a stingy Hartselle defense. Hartselle scored its final touchdown after running back Chris Slayton fumbled at the Athens 5. The ball bounced around before being recovered in the end zone by a Hartselle player.
Slayton finished with 21 carries for 99 yards while quarterback Jamison Aldridge threw for 181 yards and ran for another 58 on the ground. Anderson finished with four catches for 87 yards and a touchdown for Athens.
Athens (1-2, 1-1) will travel to No. 2 Muscle Shoals next week while Hartselle (3-0, 2-0) will host Cullman (3-0, 2-0).
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