FAYETTE — Cullman continued to pick up momentum just in for a crucial second-half stretch, celebrating its first back-to-back wins of the season by toppling Class 4A No. 7 Fayette County 21-18 on Friday night.

The Bearcats (3-2) had a prodigious start in the first quarter, leaping ahead of the home team 14-0.

Senior running back Will Crenshaw came away with the first score at 6:37 in the first quarter after he scampered into the end zone from a yard out.

A short while later, the sophomore duo of quarterback Ross Crocker and wideout Owen Lovell connected on a 45-yard touchdown pass to bring the score to 14-0.

“Fayette County has a good program, good defense,” Cullman coach Mark Britton said. “Our kids played hard to get started that quickly.”

Britton’s bragging on the Tiger defense didn’t go unrealized, as it stopped the Bearcats from potentially running away with the game by forcing and recovering a fumble inside its own 20.

Fayette County (4-2) managed to shutout Cullman in the second quarter, all the while scoring two touchdowns cut the deficit to 14-12.

The two points left on the field would later prove to be fatal for the Tigers.

The first score of the second half came when Crenshaw scored on a 1-yard run with two minutes remaining in the third quarter, extending the Bearcats’ advantage to 21-12.

The Tigers managed to make it 21-18 on a quarterback scramble late in the fourth quarter, but the Bearcats didn’t spare any time for dramatic finishes.

With both teams finding the end zone three times, the Black and Gold special teams unit made all the difference.

“We blocked two PATs and stopped one two-point conversion,” Britton said. “This was a real team effort.”

Coach Britton had a lot to say about his young signal-caller’s performance. Crocker went 9 of 12 for 167 yards and one interception, one week after showing continued development in a gutsy win at Austin.

“Crocker did very well against a lot of pressure,” he said. “Fayette County’s answer to a lot of things was all-out blitz.”

Crenshawn turned 27 carries into 105 rushing yards and the two touchdowns.

Cullman’s defense prevailed in a big way despite facing Kyle Nalls, who entered the game with more than 1,000 rushing yards on the season. The Tigers were held to just 73 yards on the ground.

“Our guys went in knowing the tremendous challenge of that running back,” Britton said. “Our kids did a great job of gang tackling. By the second half, we wore him out.”

Cullman returns to the Class 6A, Region 8 gauntlet next Friday with a home game against Athens. The ’Cats squeaked by their longtime rival 16-13 last fall at Oliver Woodard Stadium.

“Every game in region play is important,” Britton said. “We’re a little banged up, so we’re going to try to recover and prepare for a program that is traditionally very good.”