Fultondale quarterback ArDarius Stewart (13) hangs onto the ball despite the efforts of Red Bay’s Hunter Childers to strip it. Stewart threw three touchdown passes and ran for a score as the Wildcats won their second-round playoff game. Stewart ran for 160 yards and a touchdown, threw three touchdown passes, and had 13 combined tackles and assists as a safety in Fultondale’s 27-15 victory Friday night.

Seventh-ranked Red Bay had one big thing to do if they wanted to get past Fultondale in the AHSAA Class 2A playoffs: stop quarterback ArDarius Stewart.

They didn’t, and the Tigers’ season is done.

The Fultondale junior threw three touchdown passes, and scored on a 68-yard run as the Cats prevailed 27-15 Friday night, punching their ticket to the third playoff round.

Stewart ran for 160 yards on 19 attempts, and all three of his pass completions (out of four attempts) were for scores, two of them to Deundrea Marshall.

Fans of old-school football would have enjoyed themselves, as both teams were largely content to grind out their yards on the ground. The Tigers (10-2) didn’t even attempt a pass until the last minute of the first half, and Hunter Childers didn’t complete one until 7:25 remained in the game.

Similarly for the Wildcats (10-2), coach Keith Register was also content to run the ball. But when he did let Stewart air it out, he made it count.

“We don’t do anything pretty, but we do spread you out, and you’ve got to stop 13 [Stewart],” Register said. “And they didn’t.”

The game began with a long scoring drive by the hosts, with 12 straight running plays — six by Stewart — leading up to a quick slant pass to Kris Lewis from the 13-yard line.

The opening drive ate up 5-1/2 minutes, an indicator of what was to come — only one possession went three plays and out, and that one ended with a Fultondale punt that was muffed and recovered by Marshall.

The Cats made short work of their next drive in the second quarter, as Stewart broke three tackles for a 31-yard gain. Then after a bad snap was recovered by Dante Stanley for a 21-yard loss, Stewart found Marshall at about the 25-yard line.

Marshall gave a little nudge to his defender, then caught the pass and ran it in.

The Tigers got on the scoreboard when they pinned the Wildcats at their own 7 on a punt, then tackled Marshall in the end zone for a safety on the first play from scrimmage.

Late in the first half, Red Bay fullback Matt Belue, who had turned in stellar performances for the Tigers late in the season, was injured and taken away by ambulance.

But Steven Wood did everything he could to make up for Belue’s loss, as he took the ball 11 times on 13 plays in the first drive of the second half. He finished it with a 5-yard run off left tackle for a score.

But early in the fourth quarter, Stewart found Marshall on fourth down and nine at the 15. Marshall made a leaping catch at the edge of the end zone, and somehow stayed in bounds for the touchdown.

The Tigers marched won the field again on a lengthy drive capped by a 1-yard plunge by Wood. But on the first play after the kickoff, Stewart took the ball and found daylight, running 68 yards untouched for the score.

Red Bay threatened late, but stalled out at the Fultondale 20 when Michael Holden and Jonathan Dunn tackled Wood for a loss on fourth down.

Stewart also had 13 tackles and assists combined at safety. Julian Hardy led the defense with 21 combined tackles and assists, and Michael Holden had 1-1/2 sacks.

It’s the first trip to Round 3 of the playoffs for Fultondale as a school, and for Register as a head coach. They’ll host Lineville this Friday, after Lineville defeated Oakman 48-14.