By Justin Graves

For The North Jefferson News



CULLMAN — Cullman High football coach Mark Britton knew that Mortimer Jordan’s running back tandem of Brent Nation and Skylar Myrick could be dangerous.

After all, Nation was only averaging around eight yards per carry, and Myrick wasn’t far behind.

So with that in mind, Britton knew he didn’t want to get into a shoot-out with the Blue Devils Friday night.

But that’s almost what happened.

Both Mortimer Jordan and Cullman found ways to score points on almost every drive in the first half, setting up a potential shoot-out down the stretch.

While the first half may have been a shoot-out, the second half was all Cullman.

Defensive coordinator Mark Stevens made a couple of adjustments at halftime, and Cullman held Mortimer Jordan to only six points in the second half as the Bearcats came away with a 48-23 win.

Throughout the first half, Nation was able to break several big plays off sweeps. So with that in mind, Stephens made an adjustment with Cullman’s defensive ends so they would force the Blue Devils’ tailback to cut back toward the interior.

And since Nation wasn’t able to break away toward the sideline, it allowed the Bearcats’ linebackers to make tackles for little to no gain.

“I’ve got to give all the credit to our assistant coaches and players,” Britton said. “Coach Stephens made some big adjustments for us at halftime. That was big to hold their offense to only six points in the second half. They’re a really good offensive team.”

Mortimer Jordan struck first when Tyler Kimbrough kicked a 27-yard field goal in the first quarter, but Cullman Mike Timmons capped off an 80-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown run.

Will Barnes made the point-after to give the Bearcats a 7-3 lead.

Cullman took a 14-3 lead early in the second quarter when Tyler Caldwell connected with Gavin Ellis on a 14-yard touchdown pass.

But just when the Bearcats thought they had the momentum, Mortimer Jordan shows why its offense is considered dangerous.

After Ryan Watrous ran a kickoff into Cullman territory, Nation broke loose for a 40-yard touchdown run on the next play. Kimbrough’s point-after cut the lead to four.

Caldwell hit Ellis on a 45-yard touchdown pass on the ensuing series, but Myrick cut the lead to 21-17 with a 1-yard touchdown just before the half.

“They’ve got some very good offensive players,” Britton said. “But we knew that coming into this game.”

After seeing an offensive shoot-out in the first half, Cullman’s defense decided they wanted to change the pace of the game after halftime. The Bearcats shut down Mortimer Jordan’s running game in the second half, while out scoring the Blue Devils 27-6 at the same time.

Caldwell hit Ellis on touchdown passes of 22 and nine yards, while Timmons scored on runs of 38 and five yards.

Mortimer Jordan quarterback Jon Paul Motte hit Myrick on a 17-yard touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter.

With the win, Cullman remains unbeaten in region play. But at the same time, the Bearcats are having to overcome several injuries.

“We’ve got a lot of guys banged up,” he said. “But these guys are showing a lot of character. When you’re injured, you have to overcome a lot of demons. That really says a lot about these guys. This is a special group of young men.”

Meanwhile Mortimer Jordan slips to 3-4 overall and 2-3 in region play.

It appears the Blue Devils will need some help over the next two weeks to make the state playoffs for a third- straight season. Next week, the Blue Devils host Hayden.