CULLMAN, Ala. – After securing the fourth seed in the AHSAA 6A Region 7 standings and a spot in the playoffs, the Cullman Bearcats hosted the Etowah Blue Devils in their final regular season game Friday night. Cullman got off to a slow start, giving up 10 points to Etowah in the first quarter but the Bearcats got things going late in the first and scored 42 unanswered points to defeat the Blue Devils 42-10.
Cullman took the opening kickoff and stumbled with a fumble on the fifth play of the drive and the Blue Devils recovered near midfield. On the seventh play of the drive for Etowah, Dayton Porter scored a touchdown on a 10-yard run. With 6:39 left in the first quarter, the Blue Devils took a 7-0 lead.
Continuing their slow start, the Bearcats fumbled the ball again putting Etowah in business deep in Cullman territory. During the drive, the Blue Devils were facing fourth-and-four when Cullman was called for being offsides and gave Etowah a first down. Three plays later, facing a fourth down again, the Blue Devils lined up for a 34-yard field goal. Jorge Cantellano Roman knocked the ball through the uprights and extended Etowah’s lead to 10-0 with 2:05 left in the first quarter.
Cullman took over on the next drive near midfield. Quarterback Tanner Gaines completed a 28-yard pass to Wyatt Buchanan. A roughing the passer penalty against Etowah moved the ball deep into their end of the field. Three plays later, Jackson Sessions scored on a 22-yard touchdown run and the extra point was good by Garrett Mobley to close the score to 10-7 with 52.6 seconds left in the first quarter.
Aided by penalties against Cullman, the Blue Devils looked to driving again for a score. Cullman’s defense got a sack on the Etowah quarterback by Sam Mayhair and forced the Blue Devils to punt. Getting the ball on their own 11-yard line, Cullman was 89 yards away from possibly taking the lead for the first time. Good passing by Gaines and hard running by Sessions and Cullman had gained 88 of those yards. Gaines scored on a quarterback sneak and the Bearcats had their first lead of the game at 14-10 with 1:37 left in the first half.
Continuing their strong defensive showing and using their timeouts, the Bearcats held the Blue Devils and forced a punt. Cullman had the ball on their own 28-yard line with less than a minute left in the first half. Four plays later, Gaines completed a 61-yard touchdown pass to Buchanan with 5 seconds left in the first half and Cullman’s lead was 21-10 to complete the half.
Including several sacks, Cullman’s defense held the Blue Devils to only 98 total yards in the first half compared to Cullman’s 275 total yards.
Sacks of the Etowah quarterback continued to start the second half and forced a punt by the Blue Devils. Several penalties against Cullman stalled their next drive and the second half began with punts by both teams.
Another Cullman sack and Etowah was once again facing a fourth down. Jameson Scissum took the fake punt and ran for 17 yards to give the Blue Devils a first down. On the next play, Reid Bradberry recovered the Etowah fumble and appeared to scoop and score. An unsportsmanlike penalty negated the touchdown. The penalty occurred after the change of possession fumble. Cullman took over on Etowah’s 46-yard line. Facing a fourth and five from the Etowah 26-yard line, Gaines completed a 16-yard pass to Nick Holland to keep the drive going. Sessions scored on a one-yard touchdown run and with 3:56 left in the third quarter, Cullman’s lead was 28-10.
Penalties against Cullman once again put Etowah in position to score. A pass interception by Cullman stopped Etowah’s drive and Cullman took over near midfield. On the first play, Gaines completed a 45-yard touchdown pass to Buchanan and with 12.9 seconds left in the third quarter, Cullman’s lead was 35-10.
A defensive pass interference call against Cullman appeared to get the Blue Devils into scoring position. An interception by Sessions and Cullman had the ball again near midfield. Seven plays later, Sessions scored on a four-yard touchdown run with 7:35 remaining in the game and the final score was 42-10.
Cullman is off next week and goes on the road in two weeks for the opening round of the playoffs where they will face the second ranked and undefeated Clay-Chalkville Cougars.
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