Cullman's Seth Donaldson catches a pass over Austin's Brandon Schreiber.

DECATUR — With chaos surrounding him, Cullman quarterback Ross Crocker calmly stood in the pocket looking for an open receiver.

It was fourth-and-long in a tie game on the road against Austin, and the sophomore needed to come up big.

Did he ever.

Crocker found a wide open Caden Winn near the goal line, and on the next play, Justin Patterson found the end zone for what proved to be the game-winning touchdown in a 13-7 region victory over the Black Bears on Friday night.

It was one of the few big offensive plays on a night filled with stingy defense from both sides. Cullman (2-2, 1-1 Class 6A, Region 8) was especially solid on defense, giving up just 26 total yards in the first half and 180 for the game.

But the throw by Crocker, and the catch by Winn, proved to be the biggest play of the night.

“I do think he’s growing up,” Cullman coach Mark Britton said of his signal-caller, who finished 19 of 30 for 178 yards. “We’ve got to be patient and let him make some mistakes and grow. I think the game is slowing down for him. He’s seeing some things, just like that play. He steps up and throws a strike in there for a big first down and keeps the drive alive.”

It was fourth-and-16 with the Bearcats at the Austin (0-5, 0-3) 33-yard line. Crocker took the snap, looked to his right and the middle of the field before buying a little extra time by moving to his left. And there was Winn, open at the 2-yard line. Crocker put it between the numbers.

Then Patterson, who terrorized the Black Bear offense all night from the defensive end position, lined up at fullback, took the handoff and bulled his way into the end zone.

That score came early in the fourth quarter, and the Bearcat defense never let Austin cross the 50-yard line from there.

Patterson, an All-State honorable mention last season, was in on four quarterback sacks and multiple hurries.

“He’s had a great year in the weight room,” Britton said. “He plays stronger than you think. He’s a mismatch sometimes. He’ll bull rush; he’ll speed rush; he’s a great defender and definitely a leader on this team. He came through big.”

Added Patterson: “Most of the offensive line was bigger than me. It wore me out. But when they called my plays to get in, I just had to suck it up.”

Austin’s only touchdown of the night came on its first possession of the second half. Asa Martin returned the kickoff 60 yards to the Cullman 20, and three plays later, quarterback Brandon Schreiber found Eric Washington across the middle, who sprinted to the edge and found the pylon at the 11:01 mark of the third quarter.

Schreiber finished the night 10 of 20 for 148 yards.

Austin had one other golden opportunity to put points on the board late in the third quarter. The Black Bears drove to the Cullman 12 before stalling, but Ethan Colmenero’s 29-yard field goal attempt sailed wide.

Cullman scored on its first drive of the contest, getting a 1-yard plunge from Brontae Harris and the PAT from Matt Bell for a 7-0 lead. Seth Donaldson made the big play of the drive, making a one-handed grab over his head for a 36-yard completion from Crocker to get the Bearcats to the 7-yard line.

One play before Harris’ touchdown, however, starting running back Will Crenshaw limped off the field. He tried to give it a go on the Bearcats’ next drive and even got a touch to open the second half. But the leg injury he suffered last week against Florence proved too much.

“He’s day-to-day,” Britton said. “We want him to go; he’s a senior. Sometimes we feel like we have to protect the kids from themselves. We’re hoping to get Will back full speed. We’ll need him for sure in the second half of the season.”

Neither team got much offense going the rest of the way in the first half, but Cullman did threaten just before the break. Crocker, who completed 15 of 17 passes for 118 yards in the first half, led the Bearcats to the Austin 9 with less than a minute remaining. But his pass into the end zone floated a bit, and Austin defensive back Xavier Thomas came down with the interception to end the Cullman threat.

“I knew they were going to press me in the corner of the end zone, but I knew what was coming and jumped and got it,” Thomas said. “I felt when we tied up the game that we would eventually win the game, but we couldn’t make it happen. This was a disappointing loss, but as a senior I keep telling the guys to keep their head up and keep fighting.”

Austin has lost four of its games by a combined 17 points.

“Austin is one of the finer teams in our region, and I know they don’t have a lot to show for it in the win column,” Britton said. “I think they’re one of the better teams in this (region) athletically. We’re very fortunate to come out of that game with a win.”