On the Road with Olivia and Alexa Episode Two: Muscle Shoals and Hartselle

(WHNT) — Episode two of On the Road features two Class 6A Region 7 rivals: Muscle Shoals and Hartselle.

Starting with the Trojans from Muscle Shoals who made the playoffs once again in 2023 after finishing the regular season with a perfect record and winning the 6A Region 7 title.

That’s all in the past now and this year it’s a clean slate; head coach Scott Basden has high hopes for his 2024 squad.

“They’ve got an opportunity to be really special and most of those guys are back,” Basden said. “We’ve got a lot of experience and in the back end we’re a little young but very athletic and I think those guys have a chance to be really special. I’ve seen them grow over the summer with some of the competition we’ve gone out and played.”

Switching to the Hartselle Tigers who went 9-3 in 2023 and reached the playoffs for the sixth consecutive year.

This season brings some change for the red and white as the Tigers are under new leadership in head coach Bert Newton; Coach Newton is definitely not new to the game or this program since he’s served as an assistant coach for several years at Hartselle.

With this being Newton’s first season at the helm of the Tigers, there is probably a lot of pressure to replicate the same success as previous years but Coach Newton is ready for the challenge.

“Our whole focus is on Austin week one and then secondary is win region championship and bring it back to Hartselle,” Newton said. “I think the past two years before we did that and last year we were second but the biggest goal is to get better every day and stay focused on week one against Austin because that’s our first opponent.”

Hartselle will open their season on August 23 at home against Austin; Muscle Shoals will hit the road for week 0 taking on Gadsden City.

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