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Last year the Rattlers won more games than any previous team at Tanner, they scored more points than any other team and reached the state championship game for the first time. The 2012 version of this team was believed to be even better than the one that lost to Elba 34-14 in the title game. Now all they had to do was prove it on the football field.            The defense returned three-year starters; Kyle Shoulders along the line, Dexter Douglas and Fred Rich leading the linebackers and Greg Maclin roaming the secondary. Rich carried the ball 127 times for 1,084 yards and scored 16 touchdowns last year. Maclin caught 24 passes for 418 yards and three touchdowns on a run oriented team.

Madison Academy 0   0   0   7   7     Tanner 6   0   7   0   13

Tanner scored on their first drive of the season when they went 80 yards in 16 plays to take a 6-0 lead over powerful Madison Academy. The Class 2A Rattlers beat a very good Class 3A team with great defense and a punishing running game. Tanner scored again in the third period on a Hayden Stephens powered through the defense for a 48-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 13-0.           Stephens finished with 122 yards rushing on 19 carries to pace the offense that struggled much of the night. Madison Academy cut the lead to 13-7 on a long run but the Tanner defense held them the rest of the way for the hard-fought victory at home.

Red Bay 0   0   0   0   0     Tanner 14   7   0   13   34

Fred Rich rushed for 150 yards on 15 carries to lead Tanner to a 34-0 shutout of Red Bay in week two. Hayden Stephens added 96 yards on 19 carries as the Rattlers rolled up 301 yards rushing on 43 attempts. Rich scored twice in the opening period and Stephens added a 15-yards touchdown in the second quarter as the Rattlers took a 21-0 halftime lead.

Tanner 33   19   7   8   67     Cherokee 0   0   0   7   7

The defense scored three touchdowns on fumble returns as Tanner demolished Cherokee 67-7 in week three of the season. Stephens rushed for 101 yards and scored once to pace the offense. The Rattlers scored 33 first quarter points and led 52-0 by halftime. Fred Rich scored on runs of 65 and 16 yards and returned one of the fumbles 29 yards for another score.           Blake Whitt caught a 61-yard scoring pass from quarterback Jonathan Fletcher in the second half as the offense continued to roll.

Lexington 0   0   0   7   7     Tanner 7   21   14   7   49

Lexington was completely overpowered by the Rattlers in a 49-7 trouncing in week four. Hayden Stephens rushed for 113 yards and ran for three touchdowns while Rich gained 81 yards rushing on just 10 carries. Tanner rolled up 315 yards of offense while the defense held Lexington to just 130 total yards in the game. The Rattlers led 28-0 by halftime and coasted to their fourth win in as many weeks.

Tanner 14   20   14   0   48     R.A. Hubbard 0   0   0   0   0

Top-ranked Tanner disposed of R.A. Hubbard 48-0 in week five in a convincing win. Stephens rushed for 143 yards on 10 carries and scored on runs of 28, 33 and 60 yards to lead the Rattlers. All his touchdowns came in the first half as Tanner built a 34-0 lead. Jonathan Fletcher raced 65 yards for another score.

Colbert Heights 0   0   0   13   13     Tanner 28   28   13   0   69

Tanner led 28-0 after one period and 56-0 by halftime as they dominated Colbert Heights on their way to a 69-13 win in week six. Stephens scored four touchdowns and ran for 165 yards on only nine carries as the top-ranked Rattlers totally overpowered Colbert Heights.           Fletcher finished the night 6-of-7 passing for 110 yards. Tanner rolled up 466 yards of offense including 354 yards rushing. The defense limited Colbert Heights to minus-19 yards on the ground and forced seven punts.

Tanner 13   14   13   6   46     Sheffield 0   0   13   7   20

Fred Rich and Hayden Stephens each scored three touchdowns as the Rattlers dominated Sheffield 46-20 the next week. Rich scored the game's first three touchdowns as the Rattlers took a 27-0 lead into the intermission on the road. Greg Maclin returned a punt 52 yards for a touchdown in the second half.           Fletcher rushed for 111 yards on seven carries and Rich gained 96 yards while Stephens topped them all with 199 yards as the ground attack was in prime form.

Hatton 0   0   0   6   6     Tanner 12   27   21   0   60

The No. 1 ranker Rattlers once again demolished an opponent in week eight behind two touchdowns from Stephens. Quarterback Jonathan Fletcher tossed two scoring passes and ran for another as Tanner trashed Hatton 60-6. The Rattlers led 39-0 at the half and 60-0 by the end of the third period.           Stephens finished with 159 yards rushing on 11 carries and scored on runs of 88 and 23 yards. Fletcher tossed TDs of 37 yards to Maclin and 49 yards to Desmond Love. Deshaun Freeman returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown and returned a punt 72 yards for another score. tanner rolled up 307 yards rushing and 130 yards passing while Hatton managed only 56 yards of offense.

Tanner 20   20   20   7   67     Phil Campbell 6   0   0   6   12

The Tanner defense scored three touchdowns as Fletcher returned an interception 55 yards for one, Maclin raced 100 yards with an interception in the third period and Freeman got his on a 62 yard return of another intercepted pass. In the end, the Rattlers destroyed Phil Campbell 67-12 as Tanner closed out the regular season with a perfect 9-0 record.           Hayden Stephens rushed for 145 yards and scored three touchdowns on only 13 carries and Fred Rich picked up two other scores as the offense clicked all game.

Sand Rock 0   0   0   0   0     Tanner 27   14   7   7   55

After a week off, Tanner opened the playoffs much as they had played all season by dominating Sand Rock 55-0 at home. Stephens ran for four touchdowns and Fletcher threw two touchdowns as the Rattlers raced out to a 41-0 halftime lead. Fletcher completed 7-of-8 passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns to lead the offense. Maclin caught four passes for 105 yards and one score.            Tanner rushed for 247 yards and finished with 384 total yards. The defense limited Sand Rock to minus-35 yards rushing while collecting their third shutout of the season.

Walter Wellborn 0   0   0   0   0     Tanner 14   14   20   0   48

The Rattler offense rolled up 616 yards of offense behind the running of Rich and Stephens. Fred Rich gained 172 yards on 12 carries and scored on a 72-yard run while Stephens ran for 182 yards on 23 carries and two more scores. The Rattlers never punted and rushed for 432 yards on 49 carries. Blake Whitt returned a blocked punt 35 yards for a score in the first half.            The defense held Walter Wellborn to only 145 total yards and registered their fourth shutout of the season.

Tanner 7   7   0   0   14     Fultondale 0   0   0   0   0

The Tanner defense collected their third shutout of the playoffs and fifth of the season as the Rattlers defeated Fultondale 14-0 in the quarter-finals on the road. Kyle Shoulders scored on the Rattlers first drive from 30 yards out and Fred Rich added a 19-yard run early in the second quarter. The defense held up the rest of the game as the Rattlers advanced to the semi-finals. Rich gained 100 yards on 17 carries to pace the offense.

Tanner 7   14   0   14   35     Reeltown 0   7   0   7   14

The Rattlers began the season with one goal in mind. Win a state champions. They moved one step closer with a 35-14 win over Reeltown in the semi-finals as Hayden Stephens scored twice on runs of 19 and 51 yards. He finished with 217 yards rushing on 31 carries. The Rattlers led 21-7 at the half and held on for a huge win as they earned a second straight trip to the Class 2A state championship game.

Washington County 0   7   0   7   14     Tanner 7   0   7   14   28

The defense picked off four Washington County passes while the offense rushed for 290 yards in a 28-14 win over the Bulldogs giving Tanner the Class 2A state championship at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn. The defense also held Washington County twice inside the five-yard line and Jonathan Fletcher returned an interception 44 yards for a touchdown to preserve the victory.            Tanner scored first before Washington County tied the game at 7-7 in the second quarter. Fred Rich scored a third quarter touchdown on a four-yard run for a 21-7 lead after intercepting a pass at the one-yard line. Rich finished with 79 yards rushing while Stephens led all runners with 139 yards on 29 carries.            In the end, Tanner won with an all-around great performance from both sides of the football as they collected the first title in the school's history.           Tanner finished with the school's first ever undefeated record by going 14-0. They also broke last year's record for points scored in a season by a single digit when they tallied 632.           Sophomore quarterback Jonathon Fletcher finished the year by completing 57-of-90 passes for 1,000 yards and rushed for just over 400 yards. Junior Hayden Stephens and senior Fred Rich combined for more than 3,200 yards rushing. Greg Maclin had 29 catches for 617 yards and nine touchdowns on the season.            The ground game rushed for 4,339 yards on 563 carries. and scored scored 66 touchdowns. The defense dominated opponents and registered five shutouts during the season.           Fred Rich, Greg Maclin, Hayden Stephens and Kyle Shoulders were named to the first team all-state squad by the ASWA. Baltazar Rubio was selected to the honorable mention team. Tanner 2012 8/30 13 Madison Academy . . . 7 9/7 34 Red Bay . . . . . . . . . . 0 9/7 67 Cherokee . . . . . . . . . 7 9/21 49 Lexington . . . . . . . . 7 9/28 48 R.A. Hubbard . . . . . 0 10/5 69 Colbert Heights . . . 13 10/12 46 Sheffield . . . . . . . . 20 10/19 60 Hatton . . . . . . . . . . . 6 10/26 67 Phil Campbell . . . . . 12 11/2 OPEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/9 55 Sand Rock * . . . . . . . 0 11/16 48 Walter Wellborn * . . . 0 11/23 14 Fultondale * . . . . . . 0 11/30 35 Reeltown * . . . . . . . . 14 12/7 28 Washington County # . . 14 633 14-0 100 * Playoff game # State championship game 2012 Tanner Rattlers No. Player Yr. Ht. Wt. 1 Greg MacLin Sr. 6-3 170 2 Tavaris Hines Jr. 5-7 150 3 Desmond Love Jr. 5-11 155 5 Blake Whitt Jr. 6-1 170 6 Camree Jones Fr. 6-1 175 7 Justin Smith Sr. 6-1 155 8 Markel Mull Fr. 5-6 125 9 Tiquaveious Mayberry Fr. 10 Jalen Houston So. 5-7 140 11 Jonathon Fletcher So. 5-10 165 13 Jerry Thompson So. 5-10 150 14 Kendrick Jamar Sr. 5-10 140 15 Ronald Taylor So. 5-10 175 18 Fredrick Rich Sr. 6-3 190 20 Sydnae Townsend Fr. 5-7 135 21 Kaleb Thatch Fr. 5-9 140 22 Hayden Stephens Jr. 5-9 155 23 Dexter Douglas Sr. 5-10 180 24 Jordan Lucas Fr. 5-9 130 25 Sherwin Freeman Jr. 5-8 150 30 Kyle Shoulders Sr. 6-0 235 32 Jarmal Townsend Fr. 5-8 165 42 Tyrone Yarbrough So. 5-9 145 50 Jamiah Peoples So. 5-7 130 51 Seth Smith Jr. 6-0 220 52 Shamaud Baker Jr. 5-9 170 53 Austin Lewter Fr. 5-10 210 55 Peyton Sales Fr. 5-10 210 56 Trey Fletcher Sr. 6-4 230 58 Baltazar Rubio Jr. 6-2 221 59 Jordan Sides Fr. 5-9 150 77 Rashard Gill Sr. 5-10 270 80 Alan Rios Fr. 5-8 140

Amazing Seasons, a series on the greatest seasons in high school football history


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