WEST POINT – Less than a week after the start of the 2016 high school football season, it was the players from middle school who got their chance to shine, and the Cullman Bearcats made the most of the opportunity. The Cats hung an impressive 44 points on the West Point Warriors in the first half of their jamboree game Tuesday night at West Point.
Cullman scored early and often, netting points on all six of their first half possessions. After receiving a West Point punt, quarterback Max Dueland and the Bearcats set up shop at their own 45 but they were not there for long. On their first play from scrimmage, Dueland found a streaking Napoleon Jones who hauled in the pass and was off to the races, going 55 yards for the score just 2:12 into the first quarter. Dueland kept the ball himself and ran it in for the two-point conversion to make the score 8-0 in the blink of an eye, but Cullman was far from done.
Following an interception by Brennen Norton to stop a West Point drive that pushed all the way to the Cullman 16, the Cats went back to work. Dueland started the drive with a 10-yard screen pass to Gabriel Sosa, and thanks to the arm and legs of Dueland as well as big runs by Joseph Sheppard and Jaylen Hugely, Cullman would get in the end zone again in the first quarter. The two-point try was stopped giving Cullman a 14-0 lead.
Two plays later the Bearcats would find pay dirt again. After a West Point fumble was recovered by Griffin Barksdale at the Warrior 49, Dueland found Matthew Brock for a 49-yard TD toss. The two-point try was carried in by Sheppard and the Cats found themselves on top 22-0.
Cullman would add three more scores in the first half, a 35-yard scamper by Jones followed by a 38-yard rushing score from Ethan Echols and finished with a 50-yard score from Sheppard to give Cullman a 44-0 advantage heading to the half. This is where the score would remain as both head coaches agreed to shorten the second half with Cullman claiming a 44-0 victory. Dueland finished the game 4 of 5 for 133 yards and three touchdowns. He had 11 yards on the ground and a rushing TD.
The seventh-grade team dropped Maddox 30-22 on a strong performance by quarterback John Blackwood. He finished 9 of 11 for 126 yards and three TDs.
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