Trojans win but aren't satisfied

SHEFFIELD - Muscle Shoals left Walton R. Wright Stadium unlike a football team that had achieved yet another program milestone Thursday night.

After a recital of the alma mater, the Trojans didn't celebrate their regular-season-ending 22-0 win against Sheffield (1-9).

Instead players jogged to the visitor's locker room, grabbed their gear and briskly filed out and onto awaiting buses. No joy over heading into the playoffs next week riding a four-game winning streak. No elation about becoming the program's first team since the 1988 Trojans to manage an eight-win regular season.

"The team's not satisfied. I'm not satisfied," Muscle Shoals running back Rodney Hardin said. "We should have been up by more. There are a lot of corrections to make. There were a lot of mental mistakes."

Specifically, penalties and turnovers helped prevent the Trojans from making the score more lopsided. Muscle Shoals (8-2) was flagged seven times for a total of 75 yards, including four holding calls. The Trojans also gave the ball away three times, including an interception at the goal line and a fumble inside the Bulldogs 5-yard line to stop scoring drives.

Hardin attributed the woes to a lack of focus coming off last week's big win against then-Class 5A No. 2 Hartselle and heading into the Trojans' first playoff appearance since 2000.

"Give Sheffield credit. They were ready to play," Muscle Shoals coach Scott Basden said. "I just didn't have them ready to play. That's my fault. Maybe I was looking ahead just like the kids, and I have to do a better job than that."

Muscle Shoals scored on two of its first three possessions and seemed poised to roll to a win. The Trojans went 45 yards in five plays on their opening drive, capped by a 16-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Ware to Ryan Jones.

A holing penalty negated a third-down conversion before Muscle Shoals punted on its next possession.

On the following drive, Daylan Pellum had a 32-yard run on the first play before taking a toss sweep 8 yards into the end zone six plays later. Tyler Jackson ran for the 2-point conversion, and Muscle Shoals led 15-0 at halftime.

But the following drives weren't as fruitful, ending in an interception, a short 45-yard field goal attempt short and an interception at the goal line. The pick, Ware's second of the game, ended a 45-yard drive to the Sheffield 27 with 2 minutes left in the third quarter, preserving a two-possession game for the Bulldogs.

Sheffield capitalized with its best drive, marching 58 yards to the Muscle Shoals' 24 before turning the ball over on downs.

The Trojans then drove to the Bulldogs 8 before Pellum fumbled inside the 5. Muscle Shoals recovered a Sheffield fumble at the 20 on the next play, and Hardin rushed three consecutive times, including a 4-yard touchdown run for the Trojans' final score.

Pellum rushed for a game-high 123 yards on 10 carries, while Hardin finished with 74 yards on 15 carries.

Sheffield quarterback DeMarcus Barnett finished 12-for-28 passing for 114 yards. But he didn't get much help from the running game, as the Bulldogs managed 56 yards and lost two fumbles.

"We had too many mistakes like we've had in every game this year," said Sheffield coach Chris Tucker, who will return 17 players from a team that will miss the playoffs after losing nine straight games. "But our kids competed and were in the game in the fourth quarter. That's all you can ask."

Also bothered by miscues, Muscle Shoals will try to straighten things out before next week's first-round playoff game at Fort Payne.

"The main thing is to get better in practice this week," Hardin said. "We need to go into the next game like we went into the Hartselle game."

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