BREMEN, Ala. – Cold Springs hosted Lamar County Friday night with a postseason berth on the line and despite a strong defensive effort in the second half, the Eagles were unable to keep pace with the Bulldogs and fell 19-13.
Lamar County took the game’s opening kickoff down the field in just a few plays and jumped out to a 7-0 lead with an 11-yard touchdown run just three minutes into the game. Cold Springs had some success running the ball on its ensuing drive but turned it over on downs inside Bulldogs’ territory. Lamar County took advantage with another scoring drive. The Bulldogs connected on a 40-yard touchdown pass on fourth down to extend the lead to 13-0 with a few seconds remaining in the opening quarter.
However, the Eagles wouldn’t let Lamar County pull away and they capped off a big scoring drive with a touchdown after Brodi Williams lowered his shoulder and ran through a defender at the pylon to score from 21 yards out. The touchdown cut the deficit to 13-6 with just over eight minutes to play in the half. The Cold Springs defense then stepped up and forced a turnover on downs to get the ball back with five minutes to play in the second quarter but the Eagles turned it over on downs themselves near midfield with 1:20 remaining in the half. The Bulldogs were able to capitalize on the field position and found the end zone again on a 20-yard touchdown pass that made it a 19-6 game at the break.
Cold Springs began to turn things around in the second half, starting with a big kick return from Izaiah Estell that set the Eagles offense up near midfield to start the third quarter. The Eagles took advantage of the big play and Ayden Alexander capped off the scoring drive with a 3-yard touchdown run that trimmed the lead to 19-13 with 8:37 to play in the third quarter.
Cold Springs began to tighten up on defense after that, forcing the Bulldogs to trade punts and coming up with a big turnover late in the third quarter. Williams intercepted a pass to give the ball back to the Eagles with less than three minutes to play in the third, but Cold Springs struggled to generate much yardage in the late stages of the game. The Eagles were forced to punt on their next two possessions, but they got a huge fourth down stop defensively with eight minutes to play and gave themselves a chance to win it. After methodically driving down the field, Cold Springs was unable to convert on fourth down in Bulldogs’ territory and Lamar County took over possession with a 6-point lead and just over two minutes to play.
The Bulldogs collected a pair of first downs and ran out the remainder of the clock to secure the 19-13 win and eliminate the Eagles from playoff contention.
Alexander led Cold Springs with 72 yards and a touchdown on the ground, followed by Roberto Ayala with 50 yards rushing. Williams added 30 yards and a touchdown for the Eagles in the loss.
The Eagles will return home next week to cap off the regular season against Vinemont.
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