Although it was tied up at the end of the first quarter, ninth-ranked Fultondale ran out of steam after that and eventually lost to No. 5 Tanner 24-7 on Friday, the only matchup in the state between two ranked teams in Class 2A.

Tanner scored first with a 1-yard run by Landon Stephens.

Fultondale followed suit with an 80-yard kickoff touchdown by Deundera Marshall, but missed the extra point to leave the Rattlers up by a point after one quarter.

Tanner scored in the second quarter with a 14-yard pass by Stephens to Blake Whitt. Baltazar Rubio followed up with a two-point conversion pass.

Stephens made the last touchdown of the game with a 15-yard run, and Marco Vavassallo put a bow on it with a field goal.

The fourth quarter was a defensive struggle back and forth, with neither team scoring.

Jonathan Dunn was the top defensive player for the Wildcats, racking up 16 tackles for the night. Julian Hardy added 14 tackles.

Quarterback Ardarius Stewart was Fultondale’s star in offense, with the most rushing attempts (14) and rushing yards (61), but was just  6-of-21 in passing for a total of 50 passing yards. He had two interceptions.

Although Tanner had 249 rushing yards to Fultondale’s 102, Fultondale had 50 passing yards over Tanner’s 14, a typical number for two teams long reliant on the ground game.

The Rattlers (3-0, 2-0 region) outgained the Wildcats 263 yards to 152 in total offense.