A quick turnaround for Russellville (10-2-0, 2-0) yielded a pleasant result on Friday night when the Golden Tigers traveled to Florence to face off against Mars Hill Bible School.
One day after dropping their first home loss of the season to Class 6A’s defending champion Cullman, the No. 9-ranked Golden Tigers rebounded to record an 11-1 blowout over the Panthers.
“I talked to the team before the game and told them I wanted a much stronger performance,” said Russellville head coach Trey Stanford. “They were heartbroken after the Cullman game and they wanted to do well tonight. We came out tonight and played great so I’m proud of them.”
The goals came early and often for the Golden Tigers in the first half. In the third minute, senior striker Marvin Betancourt was fouled in the box, giving Russellville a penalty kick opportunity.
Junior striker Andy Alonso was called on to take the penalty and delivered, sending the ball past the Mars Hill keeper and giving Russellville its first goal of the game. Alonso would go on to score again later in the half, giving him 14 on the year.
Two minutes after the penalty, a corner kick from freshman Samuel Bahena found the head of senior Kevin Salgado, who placed it in the top corner to give him his first goal of the season and earn Russellville a 2-0 lead.
For the team’s leading goal-scorer Betancourt, the two-goal lead was not quite enough. That is when the striker found his own rhythm and, in a span of just eight minutes, scored three goals to record his third hat trick of the season. He would score again late in the second half to give him a single-game career high of four goals and boost his season total to 20.
Senior defender Cody Boshell capped off the first half scoring with his first goal of the year, striking a ball that was too much for the Panther goalie to handle as it bounced off his chest and into the net.
Going into halftime the Golden Tigers had an 8-0 advantage.
“We controlled the ball very well tonight, especially in the first half,” Stanford said. “The guys played great and I think they took to what I said before the game. It worked out well.”
In the second half, Mars Hill managed to sneak one past junior keeper Derian Arzola-Lopez, but goals from Jesus Betancourt, Daniel Carranza, and Andy Alvarez were enough to give the Golden Tigers the 10-goal advantage they needed to end the game early with 13 minutes left to play.
Now, with double-digit wins on the season, the Golden Tigers turn their attention to another key match with area foe East Limestone coming to town on Monday, March 27.
“East Limestone is a big area game for us,” Stanford said. “West Limestone beat Mars Hill about the same as we just did, and East (Limestone) beat West (Limestone) so it should shape up to be a good one.”
Aside from East Limestone, Russellville is also scheduled to travel to Clements on March 28 before returning home for another area match against West Limestone on March 31.
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In the preceding girls’ match, the Lady Golden Tigers fell to Mars Hill 5-0.
