After enjoying several years of success under Coach Perry Swindall the Russellville Tigers found themselves searching for a new head man last spring. Swindall surprisingly resigned after last year’s season in which the Tigers failed to make it to the 5A state finals, which is an annual goal for the proud football community.
Fast-forward to the 2007 season, and the Golden Tigers are led by Coach Doug Goodwin who has plenty of experience in the Alabama state play-offs.
Coach Goodwin spoke about this year’s team in an earlier interview,“We can be a pretty good football team if we can get them to come together early on. We need some guys to step up and become leaders.”
Russellville comes into this week's game with the Deshler Tigers as a pre-season top 10 team in all polls across the state, and rightfully so with the returning talent on the field.
After losing talented players such as Taz Tillery (UT-Martin) Bret Young and others, the Golden Tigers are still loaded on both sides of the ball.
They return Michael Abernathy, who is a monster with the ball in his hands, and he catches the ball well out of the backfield. While the rest of the offense is very capable the Tigers will go as Abernathy goes.
Perhaps the players Abernathy will miss the most are former offensive lineman Taz Tillery and back Kirby Nelson. Tillery opened gaping holes in defensive fronts last season, while Nelson kept other teams from keying on Abernathy. The Golden Tigers will have several running backs trying to fill the shoes of Nelson in 2007, and that is a key in the performance of the Russellville offense, and Michael Abernathy.
Russellville returns some star power on defense with Caleb Mitchell and Korey Suggs as well as others. Mitchell had six interceptions in 2006 and returned three of those for touchdowns. He also had six punt returns for touchdowns on special teams. Mitchell is also a game breaker who does change games from his safety position as well as on special teams.
The Tigers will miss Rashad Graham on defense as he now plays corner for Southern Illinois. He was a consistent “lock-down" corner for the Golden Tigers last year.
While Russellville has many questions surrounding this year’s team the Deshler Tigers are looking to make a trip back to Birmingham.
Coach John Mothershed is still stalking the sideline for the Tigers, and he has the pedigree of multiple state championships in his hip pocket.
The Deshler Tigers return all but three starters from a disappointing season a year ago. The Tigers were a play-off team, but like Russellville, that simply doesn’t meet the standards set at Deshler in the past.
Deshler returns lightning in a bottle by the name of Dominique King. King had more than 200 all-purpose yards against Russellville last season, and around 2,000 yards on the season.
King can do it all from every position on the field. He can line up at wide receiver and beat you, he can beat you from his running back position, or he can return a punt to break open the game.
King isn’t alone as the Tigers return the rest of their starting backfield with D.J. Box manning the fullback position and Lester Coleman at the other running back spot. Quarterback Chase Blackburn was impressive as a sophomore and could be a good prospect for the 2009 recruiting class.
Big man Demarkus Underwood has moved from Colbert County and now resides in Tuscumbia. He will anchor a solid offensive line upon his return from a current injury.
The Deshler defense is led by a talented defensive backfield that Dominique King anchors from his cornerback position. The Tigers were either feast or famine on defense last season, but with age and experience come consistency and that is what is expected from The Deshler Tigers this season.
This game could come down to a big special teams play, and both teams have capable return men in King and Mitchell.
Tim's Take:
I look for this to be another great game in this series, but I will have to go with the team with the least to overcome this season. Besides, they have home field advantage.
I’ll pick 4A Deshler to upset 5A Russellville early in the season. Look for the Russellville Golden Tigers to improve as the season gets into full swing.
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