CULLMAN – Another assignment, another victory for the Cullman Middle School football teams.
Cullman's seventh grade took care of Arab 24-6 and the eighth graders followed with a dominating 36-8 triumph as both moved to 6-0 on the regular season.
The two squads will close out their schedule next Tuesday at home against Guntersville. The seventh grade plays at 5 p.m. with the eighth grade to start around 6:30 p.m.
Seventh Grade: Cullman 24, Arab 6
In the seventh grade encounter, Cullman had the ball for one possession in the first quarter. That was a 66-yard drive in eight plays, using 4:15 of time to take an 8-0 lead after the period ended.
Four different running backs got carries on the drive with the touchdown coming on a 13-yard run by William Bradberry and a 2-point conversion pass from Hayden Stancil to Jamar Kay.
The Bearcats managed to get the ball for one possession in the second period. Arab gave up the ball at the Cullman 27 with 47 seconds left in the half. The 'Cats got a 46-yard pass to Bradberry and had a chance to extend the lead.
But a pass from John Blackwood was intercepted by John Johnson at the five, who ran it back to near midfield when time expired. Cullman led 8-0, controlling the stats with 122 yards of offense to only 22 for the visitors.
The Bearcats netted 100 yards in the third period with two scoring drives to get command of the battle. The first was a one-play, 65-yard pass from Stancil to Kay who dashed down the left sidelines. Stancil tacked on the conversion and Cullman led 16-0, just 15 seconds elapsed in the third quarter.
A fumble by the Knights was recovered by the Bearcats' Tucker Apel, putting Cullman in good field position at the Arab 32 with 4:00 showing on the clock.
Andrew Conway finished the drive by taking it over from the 2. He added the conversion and the Bearcats took a 24-0 lead into the final stanza.
Cullman wound up with 204 yards of offense as Stancil accounted for 136 yards passing and a touchdown. Kay had two receptions for 65 yards with Bradberry gaining 46 yards on one throw.
The 'Cats picked up 68 yards on the ground while the defense surrendered just 81 yards for the night, -7 in the third quarter.
Eighth Grade, Cullman 36, Arab 8
Cullman scored on its first possession of the contest, an 18-yard pass from Jake Dueland to Ethan Echols with 5:37 remaining in the quarter. The conversion failed and the Bearcats led 6-0.
A drive that carried into the second quarter came to a close on a yard run by Brennan Norton. Norton got the conversion for two and the 'Cats moved out to a 14-0 lead with 5:35 showing on the clock.
Cullman forced Arab to turn the ball over on downs, dropping the Knights for a loss to the Bearcat 41 when they took over with 2:21 left in the half.
Max Dueland hooked up with Matt Brock for 18 and couple of short passes to Joseph Sheppard and Echols, plus a 17-yard run by Echols. That set up a 10-yard dash to pay dirt from Jaden Kay and a Dueland pass to Echols made the score 22-0 Bearcats at the half.
Cullman netted 151 yards of offense by intermission with Arab getting only 19, 7 in the second period and zero in the passing department.
Following a scoreless third period, Cullman tallied two touchdowns in the final period to gain a larger advantage on the scoreboard at Oliver Woodard Stadium.
Dueland found Gabriel Sosa open down the left sidelines for 25 yards and a touchdown and threw a conversion pass to him, extending the Cullman margin to 30-0.
Arab got the zeros off the scoreboard when Christian Eaton took the kickoff and raced 75 yards to the end zone. That came with 6:49 remaining. He caught a conversion pass from Alexander Alcala and the Knights trailed 30-8.
Cullman used ball control for its final drive of the night. The 'Cats took it 66 yards and chewed up 5:12 of the quarter to cap off a fine performance.
Sheppard ran for 50 yards on six carries in the quarter, scoring the touchdown from the 3 with 1:34 to play. The conversion was no good.
Arab tried to add a touchdown to its side, but the Knights were stopped at the Cullman 6 when time ran out.
The Bearcats gained 149 yards in the second half and finished with 300 yards, 165 in the passing attack and 135 on the ground. Coach Gerald Turner's squad netted 17 first downs and was dominant in time of possession.
Victory was sweet for the eighth grade as they avenged a loss to Arab from last year when both teams were seventh graders. The eighth grade has won 10 straight since that defeat with the seventh grade going into their final game of the year with an eight-game winning streak.
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