Cullman combined a steady rushing attack with a strong defensive performance Friday night to pick up its first win of the season, defeating Mortimer Jordan 35-14.
“We really wanted to bounce back from how we played last week. I think me, the other coaches and the players kind of took it personal how bad we played last week,” Cullman coach Danny Stiff said. “We wanted to come back and have a strong performance against Mortimer Jordan, who we felt like we could have won the game against last year.”
The Bearcats (1-1) led 14-7 at halftime behind rushing touchdowns from Preston Gay and Cooper Loftin. In the second half, Loftin added two more rushing touchdowns, which broke the game open.
“The run game on offense was great,” Stiff said. “Cooper Loftin had over 200 yards rushing, which is always going to be a good night on offense, and complemented how our defense was playing. Those two things coming together really controlled the football game.”
With a multi-score lead, Stevie Prologo added a touchdown late in the game to close out the win.
Cullman hosts Athens next week in its region opener.
Addison 36, Decatur Heritage 20
Addison broke a halftime tie with an offensive explosion in the third quarter to cruise to its first win of the season.
The Bulldogs secured the lead early in that frame on a 75-yard touchdown pass from Kaden Dyson to Owen Pratt before Zayne Smith and Seth Hammack each added scoring runs to make it 36-14.
Dyson and Smith had touchdown runs in the first half as well.
Addison (1-1) hosts Shoals Christian next week in its region opener.
Fairview 41, Springville 17
Fairview opened the season with a lopsided win behind multiple touchdowns from Kolt Redding, Jake Harper and Carson Jones.
The Aggies established control of the game early — with Harper and Jones each scoring twice in the first half via rushing touchdowns.
Redding also scored on the ground to give Fairview a 34-10 lead at the half and later connected with Zayden Cruce for a touchdown in the second half.
Fairview (1-0) plays West Point next week at home in its region opener.
Vinemont 22, Southeastern 8
Vinemont fought its way to a win Friday, outscoring the Mustangs 14-0 in the second half to improve to 2-0 on the season.
Kayden Henderson capped a long drive late in the third quarter with a touchdown to break an 8-8 tie — Rush Sandlin tossed a touchdown pass to Tucker Robinson to account for the first-half score — and the Eagle defense played its part before a touchdown run by Josh Rhodes gave the Eagles breathing room down the stretch.
Vinemont travels to Phil Campbell next week for its region opener.