Led by another stellar performance from junior running back Cameron Phinizee and bolstered by four forced turnovers on defense, the Russellville High School varsity football team (2-1, 1-0) extended its region winning streak to 26 games on Friday night, defeating Lawrence County (2-1, 0-1) 42-20 on the road in Moulton.
Russellville’s winning streak in the region dates back to the 2019 season, but it was the first region contest for first-year Golden Tiger head coach Dustin Goodwin, who praised his players for their performance.
“It’s always great to get that first win (in the region) out of the way, and I thought our team did a great job of getting stops when we needed them, running the ball, and playing really hard,” Goodwin said. “We knew Lawrence County was a tough opponent that was going to give us everything they had and play hard and challenge us, and they did.
“I was really proud of the way our guys came out and executed on both sides of the ball and answered the call," he added. "We were able to establish the run and then we were very consistent in the passing game, as well, which allowed us to spread out a bit and get the ball out of the box.
"Overall, we were proud of the way Cam ran the ball, the way we blocked up front, and the way we were able to stop the run."
The Golden Tiger defense started the game with a stop. Lawrence County drove into the red zone on their first possession, but the Russellville defense held and forced the Red Devils into a field goal attempt, which they missed from 25 yards out.
Then the Golden Tigers let Phinizee, who would finish the game with over 350 yards rushing, do his thing. The junior back opened up the scoring with a touchdown run from nine yards out midway through the first quarter. He would add another in the waning seconds of the opening period, running the ball into the endzone from 30 yards out to make it 14-0.
Phinizee’s third touchdown run of the night came from 14 yards out giving the Golden Tigers a 21-0 advantage. Russellville would lead 21-6 going into the halftime break after a botched extra point attempt by Lawrence County.
Phinizee’s final two touchdowns would come in the third quarter. His fourth was a five-yard TD scamper that put the Golden Tigers up 28-6; but it was his fifth and final rushing score that was really special, taking it in from 72 yards by cutting into the running lane, juking defenders in the secondary, and following lead blockers all the way into the endzone.
“It was awesome. Cam’s a special player, and you saw it on that run. He found the hole and made a move on a guy to make him miss at the second level to break it,” Goodwin said. “But what I really noticed about that play was Javon Poss running down the sideline and blocking a guy all the way that allowed Cam to make that play. That’s the difference between a good play and a touchdown. That’s the kind of effort and determination you want to get out of your players and it was really awesome to see.”
It was Phinizee that scored nearly all of Russellville’s points—sophomore quarterback Tripp Cleveland added the sixth and final touchdown with a rushing score in the dying minutes—but it was the Golden Tiger defense that continued to get the ball back to the offense, typically in advantageous field position.
The star of the night on the defensive side was sophomore linebacker Keifer Hallmark, who had a hand in three of Russellville’s four takeaways, recovering a fumble and grabbing two interceptions.
“He’s a little undersized but he plays way above his head,” Goodwin said of Hallmark. “He’s very gritty and gives you everything he’s got. He’s gotten a few interceptions this year so far, and I’m really proud of him and the way he was able to come out and perform for his team tonight.”
The game was also notable for settling one of the unanswered questions the Golden Tigers had coming into the game, which was who the full-time starting quarterback would be. Freshman Whit Goodwin and the sophomore quarterback Cleveland split reps in Russellville’s opening two games of the year, but it was Goodwin who started and received most of the playing time under center and was only subbed late in the game.
“We’ll have to go look at the tape to know what we need to work on and learn from going forward, but overall we were able to move the football successfully,” Goodwin said. “There are still things we need to do better and kinks we have to work out, but hopefully we’ll continue to mature and get better at that position and on offense in general.”
With their first region win of the season in the books, the Golden Tigers will now turn their attention to their next opponent in East Limestone. Goodwin said Russellville will celebrate the victory over the Red Devils, but there are still areas the Golden Tigers need to improve in before traveling to take on the region rival Indians in Athens.
“Offensively we can’t penalize ourselves,” he said. “We had some penalties and stuff like that we need to clean up. It was a highly competitive game and in games like that emotions can run high sometimes, but we have to play to the whistle and then shut it down. Penalties have really hurt us, so we’ve got to clean that up, for sure.”
Russellville will travel to East Limestone for its third straight road contest on September 13th before returning home to Golden Tiger Stadium against Ardmore on September 20th.
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