Cullman's Blake Purifoy rushes the passer during the third quarter of Friday's 28-0 Bearcat victory.

It didn’t matter what plays Russellville called or how hard the Tigers tried on Friday night; they simply weren’t going to move the football against the Cullman defense.

The Bearcats made the most of their frigid Senior Night inside Oliver Woodward Stadium, holding Russellville to a mere 184 total yards and six first downs and forcing four turnovers in an effortless 28-0 victory.

Cullman’s win ended its season at 5-5, while the Tigers dropped to 8-2 as they prepare to host a Class 5A playoff game next week.

“Our kids have played hard all year long,” Black and Gold coach Mark Britton said. “It’s been a tough one, but I’m really proud of the guys and my seniors. It was a good win for us heading into next season.”

Added senior running back Will Crenshaw: “It was great. I loved to see this team go out with a win. We definitely went out the way we wanted to. I will never forget this or all the moments we’ve shared over the years.”

Britton brought out his bag of tricks early in the first quarter, calling a gutsy fake punt inside his team’s own territory.

The Bearcats took the long snap and faked one way — fooling the entire Tiger special teams group — while freshman Carson Freeman snuck out on the backside. He received a dynamite edge block from Dawson Drake and ran untouched for a 58-yard touchdown to give his team an early 6-0 lead.

“We watched film and thought they might be vulnerable to the fake,” Britton said. “We could tell our defense was going to play great, so we took the shot and called it. Carson made a terrific move and he was gone.”

It didn’t take too long for everyone in attendance to see that six points was all the Black and Gold needed on this particular night.

Coordinator Matt Hopper’s group terrorized sophomore quarterback Payton Nichols all game long, forcing him into bad throws and sacking him twice in the first half. Nichols finished the contest just 5 of 19 passing for 73 yards and coughed up two fumbles.

“Our coaches put us in perfect positions tonight,” senior Brontae Harris said. “It was up to us to execute and we did. To see a stat like that, it makes all of us real proud. But it wouldn’t be happening without that defensive line. The guys made him run everywhere. When you only have to cover a man for two or three seconds, it’s a whole lot easier.”

The offense made it 14-0 on an 18-yard screen pass from freshman signal-caller Fletcher Jennings to Crenshaw — and a two-point conversion throw from Jennings to Maison Goodwin — late in the first half.

Russellville’s offense stayed in disarray in the third quarter, going three-and-out to start the half before a botched punt snap set up the Bearcats with a first-and-10 at the 11-yard line. Three plays later, Harris scampered into the end zone on a 5-yard keeper to make it 21-0.

The Tigers drove down to the Bearcat 28 on their next possession but four straight incompletions nixed the scoring chance. They snapped it three more times in the quarter — two of which resulted in fumble recoveries for Cullman.

“We were real excited about our defense from the beginning,” Britton said. “Coach Hopper had them dialed in tonight on just about every play those guys ran. That allowed us to take a few chances here and there. We had a lot of confidence in that group tonight.”

On the flipside, the Black and Gold O added a final score — a 13-yard jaunt by Crenshaw — to make it 28-0 late in the fourth frame. Crenshaw finished his night with 97 yards on 24 carries. Michael Al-Dijaili added 79 yards, as the ‘Cats finished with 181 total on the ground.

“Our offensive line came through for us tonight,” Crenshaw said. “They just opened the holes, and we ran through them.”

Jennings was admirable starting in place of Ross Crocker, completing three passes for 22 yards and a score.

While the Bearcats will stay home for the postseason for the first time in 12 seasons under Britton, they will return a young team next season with tons of valuable experience the grizzled head coach hopes will shine through in the coming months.

“It gives us momentum for sure,” he said. “It also sends these seniors out on the right note. They’ve all had a tough hill to climb. They’ve come to work, though. It’s easy to do that when you’re 13-1 or 12-2, but to do it when you are 5-5 speaks volumes about this group. We were glad to send them out with a win tonight.”