Austin, Decatur turn tables on Sparkman

Decatur High’s 19-13 win at Sparkman on Friday night marked the second time in as many weeks that a team from the River City took down the Senators on their home field.

Last week, Austin beat Sparkman 34-31 in Harvest in a tug-of-war contest that the Black Bears won on a last-second field goal.

Last year, the roles were reversed, when Sparkman won two weeks in a row over the city’s schools at Ogle Stadium.

After the Red Raiders beat the Senators on their homecoming night Friday, Sparkman coach Roger Haynes said both Decatur City Schools programs have shown marked improvement, while his own team is in the rebuilding process.

“They’re on a roll, while we’re kind of spiraling downward at this point, and we’ve got to get up and dust ourselves off,” Haynes said.

The win over the Senators (2-3) was particularly sweet for both Decatur (4-1) and Austin (2-3). The Red Raiders preserved their winning streak, which stands at four games this season, while Austin got a one-up on a team it is battling for a Class 6A, Region 8 playoff spot.

Austin’s back-and-forth battles: For the second straight week, Austin fought through four quarters of tight football.

Last week, Austin came out on top 34-31 over Sparkman, but this week the Black Bears fell 24-21 to Class 5A second-ranked Russellville by the same token: On a late field goal.

Russellville’s Josh Montgomery kicked a 35-yard field goal with 40 seconds left to give the Golden Tigers the winning points.

Last week’s hero was Austin’s Josh Lowman, who connected on a 21-yarder with three seconds left for the Black Bears’ road victory over the Senators.

Rivalry on its last go-round: Class 4A East Limestone and 2A Tanner may be growing apart, and it could signal an end to a Limestone County rivalry that has provided a lot of thrills to both communities in recent years. This week, both sides acknowledged that with East Limestone growing in size, the nonregion matchup may have seen its last showdown.

“With (East Limestone) maybe moving up to 5A here soon, it may be coming to the end of it,” Tanner coach Laron White said.

The Indians took a 58-0 win Thursday night at Tanner, but despite school size, both coaches name the county rivalry a win they value. Both teams place this one near the top of their wish list every regular season, and part of what has fueled the rivalry is that in most years, it has been competitive.

Before East Limestone’s lopsided win, the Rattlers had won the past two meeting by one point each.

“This could be the last one,” East Limestone coach Jeff Pugh said. “They got us the past two times, and we got them this year.”

Priceville’s team win: Priceville got its 21-19 win by committee in front of a homecoming crowd against rival Danville on Friday night.

It was junior running back Jeremy Hale, who was the Bulldogs’ leading rusher, with 193 yards on 16 carries, but Priceville’s three touchdowns were scored by three different players. Aaron Sawyer, Eli Allen and Kristian Barker each scored one touchdown for Priceville (2-3).

Hazlewood starts new: With a 54-28 win over Class 5A Muscle Shoals on Friday night, 1A fifth-ranked Hazlewood remains undefeated at 5-0 and now has avenged all three of last year’s regular-season losses.

The Golden Bears scored a 7-0 opening-week win over 4A Tarrant and beat Speake 19-0 on Sept. 7.

Hazlewood went 8-4 last season, falling 13-12 to Donoho in the second round of the 1A state playoffs.

Reyer paces West Limestone: Senior quarterback Tommy Reyer hasn’t just played a role in the West Limestone’s two wins this season — he’s dominated them.

Reyer scored four touchdowns on runs of 80, 2, 66 and 71 yards, rushing for 279 yards on 18 carries in West Limestone’s 27-13 win over Ardmore on Friday. He also accounted for six touchdowns to lead the Wildcats to a 42-28 season-opening win over Holly Pond when he rushed for three scores, returned a kickoff for another touchdown and threw two touchdown passes.