Tigers can’t hang their heads
Published 5:52 pm Tuesday, September 13, 2011
After three deflating losses to begin the season, new Chilton County football coach Donnie Hand might have expected his players to be a little down during Monday’s practice.
Instead, it was the same old Tigers.
“I think the kids bounce back quicker than the coaches or the fans,” Hand said.
They’ll have to as another tough region foe, Greenville, comes calling this week.
In Week 1, CCHS fell to rival Jemison. Then, a blocked last-second field goal resulted in a loss to Demopolis.
Last week, it was a would-have-been touchdown pass to bring the Tigers within an point after of tying Brookwood with less than 2 minutes left to play.
Chilton quarterback Chance Britnell passed to Austin Rossi for a 1-yard touchdown to begin the scoring. Stephen Horn made a 27-yard field goal in the third quarter, and Vadall Morrow returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown.
But Brookwood put up 15 fourth-quarter points to take the lead.
Morrow also had a 40-yard touchdown run on a reverse play in the third quarter called back because of a holding penalty. That would have given CCHS a 15-7 lead with a chance to tack on an extra point.
Later, with the Tigers trailing by the final score of 22-15, Britnell found Rossi on a tight end corner route on 3rd-and-10 from midfield.
As it appeared the visitors would have a chance to tie the game, the players and fans went wild—but not Hand.
“When he threw it, I saw the flag, so I didn’t even look to see what happened,” he said.
The 0-3 Tigers could easily be 2-1, and their bruising rushing attack is finding its rhythm, accounting for 197 yards against Brookwood.
Hand said he tells the team they simply must keep playing hard.
“At some point, something good has got to happen,” he said.