​Aug. 19—Lay of the landHartselle will be in Class 5A, Region 7 with Athens, Austin, Decatur, East Limestone, Florence, Muscle Shoals and Russellville.—Head coachBert Newton is entering his third season. The Tigers are 19-5 under Newton with two playoff appearances.—Last seasonHartselle (10-2, 5-1) finished second in Class 6A, Region 7 and advanced to the second round of the Class 6A playoffs.—Words to grow onFor his first time as head coach, Newton is facing significant changes.The Tigers had to replace longtime offensive coordinator Will Lang who left to take the head coaching job at Guntersville, as well as multiple other assistants. Grant Lake was promoted to offensive coordinator on top of being wide receivers coach.”I’ve lost some coaches, but this is the first time I’ve had to replace a coordinator. What made it tougher was, usually those hires happen in January, but Will didn’t get hired until April,” Newton said. “He’s a big loss for us and I know he’s going to do great there, but I feel good about the coaches we’ve filled those spots with.”Hartselle is also having to replace nearly 30 seniors from last year’s team.”I knew from their freshman year they were a special group,” Newton said of the Class of 2026. “It hurts (losing them) but they set such a good example of how to win football games just like the players that came before them. Now our new guys just have to go out there and do it themselves.”—QuarterbackHartselle must replace the 2025 Decatur Daily player of the year in Carter Lee, who accounted for over 2,000 yards and 25 touchdowns last season.His replacement has yet to be decided as senior Davis Amos, a transfer, and junior Asa Priola battle it out.”Those guys are neck and neck right now. David has a great arm, moves well in the pocket and if we went off seven-on-seven he would be the guy but we have to see how he does with live bullets,” Newton said. “Asa is a competitor, really good in the pocket, can run well and is great at managing the huddle. If he’s not playing quarterback, then he’ll be playing somewhere else.”—OffenseHartselle will have to replace two starters at running back in Jaheim Pruitt and Jayden Morris who split carries each of the last two years. To replace them, the Tigers will turn to junior EJ Muhammad and sophomore Maddox Southern.At receiver, Hartselle lost star Cain Falciani but does return three guys who played significant snaps in Braden Weathers, Malachi Pawlitschek and Jai Morrow. They also added Gray Bennich, a basketball player, who brings explosive playmaking, Newton said.”We have several guys that played a lot last year and now we just need one to step up and be that guy that can take the top of the defense. I think they’re all capable of it,” Newton said.Ty Lemay will play at the fullback position after coming on late last season due to injuries.At offensive line, Hartselle returns two starters in juniors Liam Wooten and Cash Hudson. Wooten will start at left tackle and Hudson will