Tigers pummel Northside 42-0 in 1st round Friday

It was a one-sided affair in Straughn Friday night, as the Tigers blanked the Northside Rams 42-0 in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs.

SHS head football coach Trent Taylor said he couldn’t have asked for a much better performance than what his players delivered Friday night.

“They did everything we asked them to do,” Taylor said. “They played very well on both sides of the ball.”

The Tigers were nearly flawless on both sides of the ball, running up the score on the Rams, while keeping them far from the end zone all night.

Straughn quarterback Rollin Kinsaul began the Tigers’ scoring bonanza, finding the end zone on a 1-yard run to cap off his team’s offensive series.

After a quick Rams’ series, Kinsaul got it done again, this time through the air with a 14-yard touchdown strike to Lane Sirmon. The score gave the Tigers a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter.

Midway through the second quarter, Tigers running back Devin Scott got in on the scoring frenzy with a 35-yard touchdown run. SHS would take their 21-0 lead into halftime.

The Tigers wasted no time getting things going in the second half, as Scott returned the opening kickoff for his second touchdown of the night, upping Straughn’s lead to 28.

As Northside struggled to put together an offensive series, Straughn’s defense capitalized on a Rams’ fumble, scooping it up on Northside’s 36-yard-line.

Kinsaul found Sirmon once again through the air on the Rams’ 20-yard-line on the next play, and Scott followed it up with a scamper to the 11-yard-line. Kinsaul struck again through the air on the next play with an 11-yard hook up with Keith Edgar, giving the Tigers a 35-0 lead with 7:55 still to play in the third quarter.

Straughn’s starters finished their jobs late in third quarter with a final trip to the end zone, as running back Daryl George broke through the Rams’ defense for a nearly 70-yard touchdown run.

The Tigers, relying on backups, did not find the end zone in the fourth quarter, but also kept the Rams out, preserving the first-round playoff shutout.

Taylor said a bye week and some strong practices really helped his team prepare for Friday’s first-round match up.

“We had an open week in week 10, and I think that really helped our football team,” he said. “We had a great week of practice. We gave them Monday and Friday off, and for high school kids, that’s been an eternity since they played, so they were excited about getting back out here.”

With Friday’s win, Straughn advances to the second round of the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s Class 3A state playoffs, where it will travel to play Dale County.

DCHS knocked off B.B. Comer in the first round by a score of 53-6.