Early Exit
By Staff
Late touchdown sends Cullman past Hartselle
Todd Thompson, Hartselle Enquirer
CULLMAN — Hartselle’s football team had a chance to rewrite a disappointing season with a first-round playoff game against unbeaten Cullman Friday night.
And for more than 47 minutes, the Tigers had the upperhand in the team’s second meeting with Cullman this season until the Bearcats scored with 37.7 seconds left to escape with a 42-41 victory.
The loss ends Hartselle’s season, while Cullman advances to the second round to face Chelsea on the road.
The Tigers finished with a 4-7 record just a year after winning 11 games and reaching the Class 5A semifinals.
Hartselle won five of its last seven regular season games to reach the playoffs after starting off the season with three straight losses.
Hartselle and Cullman had met twice in a season just four previous times in the history of the series, but Cullman became the first school to win two games in one season with the win Friday night.
In a game that featured three ties, Cullman scored the final 14 points in the fourth quarter to take its second win over Hartselle this season.
The Bearcats defeated Hartselle 45-20 in the fifth week of the season.
Montrell Murphy, a 1,600-yard rusher two seasons ago for Hartselle - finished with four touchdowns for the Tigers. He ran for 122 yards on 19 carries.
The Tigers also got 82 yards rushing from Marquez Jones in the loss.
But Hartselle struggled to stop a Bearcats’ offense that produced more than 500 yards in the game. Cullman scored on six of its nine possessions.
Cullman scored on its first possession of the game after forcing a Hartselle fumble at the 24-yard line just 15 seconds into the game.
Hartselle answered by driving 65 yards in nine plays. The Tigers tied the game at 7-7 with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Luke Bole to Tony Weaver.
Weaver, who finished with 10 catches for 103 yards, found a seam at the 5-yard line and went into the end zone untouched.
Hartselle scored on its next three possessions to take a 28-21 lead at the half.
Jones scored on a 5-yard run and Murphy added touchdowns of 31 and 8 yards to give the Tigers a halftime advantage.
Cullman had a chance to cut the margin early in the third quarter with a 14-play drive, but the Bearcats’ 29-yard field goal attempt went wide right.
Hartselle answered with an 80-yard drive that was capped by a 7-yard Murphy touchdown for a 35-21 lead.
With all but one play coming on the ground, the drive took nearly six minutes off the clock.
But Cullman quickly took back the momentum with a 53-yard touchdown run by Mike Timmons on a broken play that trimmed the Tigers’ lead to just seven points with 10 minutes left in the game.
Timmons, who ran for 206 yards with a pair of touchdowns, put the ball on the ground, but recovered the ball and outran several Hartselle defenders to reach the end zone.
Cullman recovered a Hartselle fumble near midfield and went 57 yards in seven plays to tie the game on Tyler Caldwell’s 18-yard touchdown pass to Chris Fisher to make it 35-35.
Murphy scored his final touchdown of the night with 2:54 remaining when he scored on a 9-yard run to give the Tigers a 41-35 advantage.
Hrtselle’s extra point attempt went wide and the lead stayed at six points.
Cullman drove into scoring territory with three first downs, but was facing a fourth-and-eight at the 17 with 44 seconds remaining.
Caldwell found Drew Forrest on a pass in the middle and Forrest beat a defender to go into the end zone untouched.
The Bearcats added the extra point to run their season record to 11-0 against their longtime rivals.
