ATHENS, Ala. – The Cullman Bearcats traveled to Athens for their first region matchup of the season, and it was a tight one between the ‘Cats and the Golden Eagles. Cullman found the end zone in the final minute of the second quarter to take a 23-21 lead at the halftime break, but Athens rallied to take a 10-point lead late in the fourth quarter. The ‘Cats didn’t go down quietly, returning a kick to for a touchdown to cut the lead to 3 and stopping the Eagles to get the ball back with 2:31 on the clock and one more chance to tie the game. Unfortunately, Cullman was unable to get on the board and Athens held on to win it 41-38.
The Bearcats put together a long, methodical opening drive. Quarterback Colt Colvard connected with Kolby Holt through the air for a big gain down to the 3-yard line and Chance Hausler punched it into the end zone for a touchdown to finish the drive and put Cullman up 6-0. Brooks West split the uprights with the extra point and the ‘Cats led 7-0 midway through the first quarter. Athens was forced to punt on the ensuing possession and a bad snap sailed over the punter’s head and out the back of the end zone for a safety, extending Cullman’s lead to 9-0.
The Eagles scored on a 3-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 9-7 with just over a minute to play in the first quarter and a 50-yard touchdown run gave Athens a 14-9 lead early in the second quarter. The Eagles tacked on another score later in the second to pull ahead 21-9 but the Bearcats battled back before halftime. Weston Keel took a handoff on a draw 60 yards up the middle for a touchdown to make it a 21-16 game midway through the second quarter and the ‘Cats took advantage of another bad Athens snap to get great field position with just under three minutes remaining in the half. A big gain on a screen pass to Holt got Cullman down to the 5-yard line and one play later, Colvard scrambled into the end zone for a touchdown to put the Bearcats in front 23-21 at halftime.
Athens opened the third quarter with a scoring drive to move ahead 27-23 and picked off a Bearcat pass on the ensuing possession to get the ball back. A 10-yard touchdown run stretched the Eagles’ lead to 34-23 with just under two minutes to play in the third quarter but Cullman responded on its next possession. After a big gain on a reverse to Holt moved the ‘Cats deep into Athens territory, Hausler punched in his second touchdown of the night on fourth and goal to cap the drive and trim the lead to 34-29. Colvard hit Brooks Loftin over the middle for the two-point conversion to make it a 34-31 game early in the fourth quarter.
The Golden Eagles answered with another scoring drive to pull ahead 41-31 but that lead didn’t hold long because Holt returned the ensuing kickoff all the way back for a touchdown to cut the lead back down to 41-38 with five minutes to play.
Cullman’s defense forced a turnover on downs with 2:31 on the clock, giving the Bearcats one more opportunity to tie the game but with no timeouts remaining and the clock winding down, Cullman was unable to get any more points on the board and dropped its region opener 41-38.
Bearcats Head Coach Trent Walker was proud of the way his team battled back after falling behind in the first half.
“Tough to come up short again tonight. Our guys battled back and forth against a very solid region team who has had so much success under Coach Gross. It was a game of swings. We jumped out to the early 9-0 lead but with the caliber of their program they swung it back and took a two score lead,” Walker said. “Our guys again didn’t back down on the road and clawed back to give us a chance with the ball with a two minute drive to go and tie it with field goal. I couldn’t ask much more from my young men in terms of the way they’re playing the game: physical and with a ton of togetherness. I want to get these seniors their first win of the season so bad. There are so many guys tonight that were emotional to the point of tears after the game, which means they’re buying in to our process, they’re buying to this team and falling in love again with this program. when you give what they gave this week and you come up short, it does hurt; it should hurt. But I told them to be proud that they get to feel those type of emotions because that’s real and that’s raw not everybody gets to have the experience in their life. We will take 24 hours to process this game. Our coaching staff will get started on Jasper on Sunday and we’ll have a great plan for our guys when they come to building Monday. I’m proud to be the head coach at Cullman High School and spend my Friday nights with this group of guys.”
The Bearcats (0-3) will be back home next week to take on Jasper.
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