Russellville edges Deshler

TUSCUMBIA - Russellville's University of Alabama commitment came through when it mattered Friday night, scoring on consecutive possessions to help the Golden Tigers pull away. Deshler's Crimson Tide commit, however, wasn't on the field during the most pivotal moments of Russellville's 26-21 season-opening win at Howard Chappell Stadium.

Suffering from cramps at halftime, Deshler wide receiver/defensive back Deion Belue, who has verbally committed to Alabama, wasn't on the field to start the second half. Facing a 6-point deficit, Deshler's defense stayed strong, stopping the Golden Tigers on three straight plays. But with Belue and two other starters in the defensive secondary out with cramps on the first series of the second half, Russellville (1-0) took a gamble. Facing fourth-and-21 at his own 21-yard line, Jake Ward faked a punt and hit Anthony Cochran with a 27 yard drive-sustaining pass. Five plays later, running back Brent Calloway, a junior who has committed to the Tide, caught a 30-yard pass from Joey Howe, giving Russellville a 19-7 lead.

"We practice that play every day," Russellville coach Doug Goodwin said of the fake punt. "In the first half, they weren't really covering him and they were bringing extra defenders. We told him at halftime that if they did it again to take advantage of it, and he did."

With Belue playing sparingly, Deshler (0-1) responded on its following drive leaning on running back Deanthonie Summer for a 60-yard touchdown drive, capped by J.R. White's 2-yard plunge with 1:52 left in the third quarter.

"When came back out, coach told us we need to get back to the basics of football," said Summerhill, who finished with 66 yards on 14 carries. "He called a lot of running plays, and we just stuffed it down their throat."

But Calloway again rose to the occasion. Taking direct snaps out of Russellville's Tiger formation, he accounted for all 65 yards on a three-play touchdown drive, capped by a 41-yard run.

"I was just concentrating on moving my legs, getting low, run, run, run," Calloway said. "That's all I thought about the whole time. I love the Tiger."

Not to be outdone, Belue returned and lined up under center on Deshler's ensuing drive. On a hunch, he sprung free up the middle for a 58-yard touchdown run, cutting Russellville's lead to 26-21 on the first play of the fourth quarter.

"For some reason, I had this feeling that the whole defense was going to shoot outside and a lane was going to be open in the middle," Belue said. "It just happened to be there. I love getting the ball in all these different ways, but at the same time I haven't gotten used to it yet."

Russellville defense tightened up from there, though, holding Deshler to three-and-out on its next two possessions. And on an otherwise shaky night, Howe found Darrian Graham for a 9-yard gain on fourth-and-6 with 1:32 left in the game, allowing the Golden Tigers to maintain possession and run out the clock.

Russellville's defense also forced a fumble and a turnover on downs in the first half, which both led to touchdowns.

"The defense had to step it up," Calloway said. "If the defense didn't step it up, we wouldn't have won that game."

Calloway rushed for 124 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries. Jyran Darby added 64 yards on eight carries and a 30-yard touchdown catch for Russellville.

Belue finished with 129 yards and two touchdowns on six carries and had an 81-yard punt return for a touchdown negated by a penalty in the second quarter half.

"I'm proud of our effort tonight," Deshler coach John Mothershed said. "It seems like I say that a lot against Russellville, but we just can't seem to get over the hump against them. A lot of our guys really grew up tonight. Deanthonie Summerhill really emerged as a tailback for us, and Deion's a big-play threat. But our problem is those two individuals have to do everything for us this year."

Bryan App can be reached at 740-5730 or bryan.app@timesdaily.com.