Hackleburg’s season ends in rout 51-8

By Louis Mellini
Staff writer
Gadsden — The Hackleburg Panthers’ season came to an end on Friday night as they suffered a first round playoff loss to Coosa Christian in Gadsden.
Early in the first quarter, Coosa Christian established a lead with a five-yard touchdown run.
They were able to score again with just two minutes left in the first with a 16 yard run and a successful two point conversion.
Coosa Christian did not let up in the second quarter of the game, scoring three touchdowns through two 4 yard runs and one 16 yard run into the end zone.
Hackleburg was not going down without a fight as Daniel Cooper nearly ran the length of the field with an 87 yard touchdown reception from quarterback Blaise Vickery.
Following the touchdown, Cooper played the role of quarterback to pass to Davin Heggy for the two point conversion.
This would be Hackleburg’s only scoring contribution to the game as Coosa Christian added two more touchdowns to their lead through a 6 yard run and a 10 yard run in the fourth quarter.
The game and Hackleburg’s postseason ended with a 51-8 defeat to Coosa Christian.
Hackleburg ended their overall season with a 6-5 record.
Senior players Daniel Cooper and Drew Williams have now played their final game with the Panthers as they will be graduating at the end of this school year.
“Not our best game Friday night. Give Coosa credit (as) they were really good,” said Hackleburg Head Coach Rod Hudson.
“I’m very proud of the kids. They worked hard in the weight room and had good attitudes at practice. We played several young kids that will benefit with this year’s experience. We just had two seniors (Cooper and Williams and) they will be missed. They have  been good players for us.”