Class 6A No. 6-ranked Hartselle beat Decatur 41-14 to stay unbeaten and clinch the Region 7 championship.

Senior quarterback Jack Smith ran for three touchdowns and threw for two more for the Tigers (9-0, 5-0). Hartselle led 21-7 at halftime at J.P. Cain Stadium in Hartselle.

Smith’s five touchdowns equaled a career high. He had five this year against Austin (four passing and one rushing).

“I think our offensive line came out and did a real good job setting the tone. And when we realized they couldn’t stop the run, it opened up our playbook a lot,” the Arkansas baseball commit said. “I owe it all to my coaches and teammates.”

Smith scored from 4 yards, 1 one and 3 yards out. He connected with Zeke Mchan from 4 yards out and Eli Tidwell on a catch-and-run for 66 yards. Ri Fletcher scored on a 1-yard run.

The visiting Red Raiders (6-2, 3-2) got two touchdown passes from Ellis Dickman to Jayden Brown, a 27-yarder and a 37-yarder.

“I’m just proud of the kids and everybody involved in our program,” Hartselle third-year coach Bryan Moore said. “All three phases played well. I thought we won all three phases in the game.”

Star of the game: Smith had 10 carries for 52 yards and three touchdowns. He completed 7 of 15 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns.

Play of the game: Leading 14-0 in the second quarter, Hartselle was on its 34-yard line when Smith found Tidwell at the 48. Tidwell ran around the defender and outraced him to the end zone for the 66-yard score. Crawford Lang kicked the extra point for a 21-0 lead with seven minutes left in the half.

Key sequence: After intercepting a Decatur pass, Hartselle had a short drive capped by Smith’s 1-yard score for a 27-7 lead at 7:03 in the third.

Stat sheet: Hartselle – Fletcher had 18 carries for 70 yards and a touchdown. Freshman defensive back Cole Miles, in the fourth quarter, made his first career interception. Decatur – Brown had seven catches for 125 yards and two touchdowns. Dickman completed 14 of 29 passes for 182 yards for two touchdowns with three interceptions.

By the numbers: 377 – Hartselle total yards with 197 rushing and 180 passing; 267 – Decatur total yards with 85 rushing and 182 passing; 3 – Decatur turnovers on interceptions; 5 – consecutive wins for Hartselle against Decatur but the Red Raiders lead the all-time series 60-29-1.

Coachspeak: “Back-to-back region championships is huge for our program.” – Moore.

“Got beat by a better team. We can’t give up big plays like we did against a good team. We hurt ourselves on offense in crucial situations.” – Decatur coach Jere Adcock.

They said it … : “It means the world to me being able to lead a team to the region championship.” – Smith.

“We had a lot of good runs, not big runs but just like 5-8 yards every play so that’s good.” – Fletcher.

“I feel like the defense was really good. I feel like the energy was great in the first quarter. And we had a good halftime speech by Treyce Oden and Jack Smith. And I feel like it was a great overall team win.” – Miles.

What’s next? Decatur hosts Buckhorn next week while Hartselle has an open week.