FLORENCE, Ala. – The Bearcats hit the road for their season opener at Mars Hill Friday night, looking to snap the Panthers’ 34-game home winning streak. The ‘Cats were kept off the board for the first three quarters, but a Preston Gray touchdown cut the lead to 10-7 with six minutes to play, setting up a dramatic ending for the black & gold. A turnover on downs gave Mars Hill the ball with a little over a minute remaining in the game. With the final seconds ticking off the clock, the Panthers lined up to punt the ball away, but the punter fumbled the ball in the endzone while trying to run out the remaining time. The fumble was recovered by Cullman for a touchdown and the Bearcats snapped Mars Hill’s home winning streak in dramatic fashion with a 13-10 victory.
Head Coach Oscar Glasscock gave his perspective on the final play and the decisions his guys made on the field to set up the final opportunity to win the game.
“Everybody was going nuts and I was watching the referee to see him hold the ball up to indicate it was the end of the game and when he did, I knew it was over but until then I was just watching that guy,” Glasscock said. “I’ve been coaching for 30 years and haven’t seen anything like that but that’s football. That’s what makes it such a great game. When Mars Hill got a personal foul on the previous play, that moved them back and it stopped the clock, and our guys didn’t retaliate. They walked away and did the right thing, so we don’t get that recovery in the endzone if we retaliate there. So, I was as proud of that as anything we’ve done since I’ve been the head coach at Cullman.”
The Panthers received the game’s opening kickoff and were forced to punt on their first possession, but the kick pinned the Bearcats down at their own 1-yard line. The ‘Cats were able to pick up a first down and get out of their own endzone but were ultimately forced to punt as well. Mars Hill was able to tear off big chunks of yardage on the ground on its second possession and capped off a scoring drive with a 2-yard touchdown run to take a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter.
A fumble on the ensuing possession gave the ball back to the Panthers near midfield but their drive ended with a missed 32-yard field goal and the Bearcats got the ball back still trailing 7-0 with around five minutes to play in the opening half. Cullman was unable to move the chains and a punt allowed Mars Hill to retake possession on their own 48-yard line with just over three minutes on the clock in the second quarter. The Panthers ran down as much of the remaining quarter as they could and knocked through a 21-yard field goal in the final seconds of the half to take a 10-0 lead into the locker room at the break.
Cullman and Mars Hill exchanged punts to start the third quarter and a pair of holding calls stalled the second Bearcats possession of the half as well. The Panthers continued to pound the ball on the ground and shorten the third quarter but the ‘Cats were able to force another punt and get the ball back on their own 20 with just under three minutes to play in the quarter. Mars Hill came up with a big return on Cullman’s next punt and the Panthers offense took over possession deep in Bearcats territory late in the third.
However, the ‘Cats were able to stop Mars Hill on fourth down inside their own 5-yard line and get the ball back to their offense with just over eight minutes remaining in the game. Cullman took advantage of the stop and made their biggest play of the game when Tanner Gaines hit LJ Turner for a 65-yard gain on a double pass. Two plays later, Preston Gray took a handoff around left tackle and found the endzone from 13 yards out to put the Bearcats on the board. Garrett Mobley split the uprights with the extra point and made it a 10-7 game midway through the fourth quarter.
Cullman’s defense come back onto the field needing a stop but the Panthers running game continued to move the chains. The ‘Cats were able to bow up and force a Mars Hill punt with just over two minutes on the clock and the Bearcats took over at their own 20-yard line needing three points to tie the game. Cullman drove the ball out near midfield and connected on what would’ve been a go-ahead, 63-yard touchdown pass to Nate Zills but a block in the back call against the Bearcats took the score off the board. Facing a fourth down and four, quarterback Ryan Skinner completed a pass to Turner, but he was stopped a yard short of the sticks and the Panthers regained possession with a little over a minute remaining.
That’s when the Bearcats were able to make magic happen, forcing Mars Hill to punt once again and recovering a fumble in the endzone to leave with an unbelievable, 13-10 season-opening win.
Turner caught four passes for 88 yards in the win and Skinner added 20 yards on the ground on nine carries. Zills caught four passes for 41 yards and Gray added a 13-yard touchdown run.
The Bearcats will return home next week to host the Jasper Vikings.
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