Fultondale running back Walter Blair (22) works his way around his own blockers and Beulah defenders during the Wildcats' 34-8 win over the Bobcats. Blair ran the ball 11 times for 31 yards.

Despite some miscellaneous problems in the first half, Fultondale dominated Friday’s game from the very first play from scrimmage and scored a 34-8 victory in a key Class 3A region game.

It was a needed victory for a Wildcat team that’s been hindered by a lack of upper classmen and key injuries, leaving a bit of a leadership void.

The hosts got off to a hot start on the opening kickoff, which the Wildcats’ Jamarcus Hollis ran all the way back to the Bobcats’ 28. On the next play, running back Derrick Moore got around the edge on the right side and ran all the way in for a touchdown.

With a start like that, a blowout looked inevitable. But Fultondale couldn’t seem to get in sync in the early going, especially on offense, with a couple of bad snaps in shotgun formations setting them back.

The Wildcats were pinned back inside their own 10, and gave up a safety on a bad snap. Then on the next possession, another bad snap resulted in a fumble that Beulah recovered on the Wildcat 6-yard line.

But the defense was up to the task, forcing the Bobcats to hand over the ball on downs after five yards in losses. For the night, the Wildcat defense stopped Beulah three times in the red zone.

That goal-line stand marked an early turning point in the game for Fultondale, as quarterback James Gowdy broke things open soon afterward.

On second down and six from his own 26, Gowdy found a hole up the middle, and he took off like an express train for 74 yards and a touchdown.

The extra point by Bryan Navarrette — he was perfect on four attempts plus two field goals for the game — gave the Wildcats a 14-2 lead with 6:58 left in the first half.

That helped coach Richie Busby’s squad get their game plan back on course.

“After we got our feet under us a little bit, we played pretty well up front and our defense did real well,” Busby said. “We put them in bad situations three different times and they held, so my hat’s off to them.”

Late in the second period, Fultondale scored two touchdowns within a minute of each other, which effectively sealed the win.

The first score finished off a seven-play drive that began just inside Beulah territory. Fullback Jason “Truck” King lived up to his nickname, smashing through the visitors’ line with a 3-yard run.

Then on the first play following the subsequent kickoff, Beulah quarterback Lonzie Portis’ pass was intercepted by Ja’Len Sims, and returned to the Bobcats 16. Austin Alexander then got the handoff on two straight plays, the latter of which resulted in a 14-yard scoring run off left guard with 91 seconds to go before halftime.

All of Fultondale’s offense in the first half came on the ground — Gowdy didn’t even attempt a pass. That changed a bit in the second half, as he opened up the air attack just a bit, with varying degrees of success; the Wildcats didn’t reach the end zone after intermission, but they did get close enough for Navarrette to kick field goals of 27 and 37 yards.

Beulah finally found paydirt late in the third quarter, when Portis capped a 73-yard drive with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Trenton Lewis. The 2-point conversion was no good.

Fultondale totaled 265 yards rushing and 307 yards total offense for the game. King led the ground game with 71 yards on 12 carries, while Gowdy had a net gain of 67 yards — his touchdown run minus a sack. He was 4-of-6 in passing for 25 yards; Alexander completed a late pass for 17 yards.

The Wildcat defense held the Bobcats (0-4, 0-3 region) to less than 100 yards each in passing and rushing, for a total offense of 174 yards.

The victory was a welcome one for Busby’s young troops.

“Any win for a young team is important,” he said. “We start eight or nine sophomores on either side of the ball, so we’re going to have our moments where we look like we don’t even practice, and then you’ll have really good moments. But the good thing is we have some really talented young kids…. They just lack a sense of urgency right now, and a lot of that is just their youth.”

Fultondale (3-2, 2-1 region) hosts Class 5A school Alabama Christian in Week 5 play Friday.