CULLMAN, Ala. – After capturing the seventh-grade title Tuesday, Cullman Middle School was back on Mark Britton Field at Oliver Woodard Stadium to play Muscle Shoals for the Tennessee Valley League’s eighth grade championship Thursday night. The Bearcats trailed Muscle Shoals at halftime but outscored the Trojans 14-0 in the second half to win the game 20-8, claim this year’s league title and finish the season undefeated. Brooks Loftin earned Championship Game MVP honors after making several big plays on defense and catching a pair of passes for 77 yards.
‘Cats Head Coach Gerald Turner knew his team wasn’t playing loose in the first half and knew they could pull ahead if they settled down for the second.
“At halftime I just told them they weren’t playing the way they were taught. I think in the first half they were just so hyped up and ready to go and we missed some assignments and had a weird fumble down on the goal line and things weren’t going our way,” Turner said. “But I told them at halftime we’re probably two touchdowns better than they are, and we aren’t playing like that. Going into the second half we just needed to take a deep breath and relax, and we were ready to go.”
Cullman took an early lead right out of the gate when Joshua Au took a handoff 65 yards for a touchdown on the game’s first play to put the Bearcats in front 6-0. Muscle Shoals responded on the ensuing possession, capping off a scoring drive with a 28-yard touchdown pass and a successful two-point conversion to move in front 8-6. Cullman was stopped short on fourth down on its next drive, but the Trojans were forced to punt a few plays later after a big tackle for loss by Brooks Loftin.
On the next ‘Cats possession, quarterback Michael Shadeck hit Loftin on a screen pass and he ran it all the way down inside the 5-yard line but a fumble near the goal line was recovered by Muscle Shoals in the end zone, resulting in a touchback and a first down for the Trojans. Neither team was able to get any more points on the board in the remainder of the second quarter and Cullman went into the halftime break trailing 8-6.
The Bearcats looked sharp to start the second half, forcing Muscle Shoals to punt on its first possession and then putting together a methodical scoring drive that consumed most of the clock left in the third. After driving down inside the 5-yard line, Cullman pulled ahead 12-6 after Jace White punched in his first touchdown of the night from two yards out. The Bearcats got a big play on defense to end the third quarter when Loftin caught the Trojans deep in the backfield for another big loss and forced Muscle Shoals to punt once again.
Cullman was moving the chains on the ground, keeping the ball away from the Trojans and running the clock when White broke free for a 31-yard touchdown and made it an 18-8 game. Shadeck found Colt Colvard over the middle for the two-point conversion and the Bearcats pulled ahead 20-8 with five minutes left to play. The next possession ended on a Trojans fourth down when Loftin got into the backfield for a sack and all but secured the 20-8 win for the ‘Cats.
Turner is proud of the way his team responded in the second half and is even prouder of the work they and his coaching staff have put in over the last year to prepare for this moment.
“This is the hardest working group. We started working these guys out this same week last year and it was every day. Every day we were over here on this hill running and they never complained because the one game they lost last year was to this same bunch and they knocked us out of the playoffs. They didn’t want that to happen again, and they worked every day to get where they needed to be,” Turner said. “This coaching staff is unbelievable, and I just can’t say enough about them. Some of them have played for me, some of them are community coaches and they’re taking away from time with their family to be part of football because they all played here. Every one of these guys was successful here on the teams they were on, and the big thing is the kids love them. They love them and they play way above their heads for these guys because they can get it out of them.”
Turner continued,
“The administration here is great and they’ve been so good to us whether it’s letting us out early or whatever we need to do to go the games and stuff. It’s unbelievable what our parents do to help us ever since I’ve been here. That’s why football has been successful here at the middle school and these guys are going to make great players and responsible men when they have their own families.”
White led the way for Cullman on the ground with 79 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries. Au posted 75 yards and a score on three carries, Shadeck carried it seven times for 31 yards and Loftin caught a pair of passes for 77 yards.
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