With sole possession of second place at stake in Class 6A, Region 8, Cullman coach Mark Britton felt it was the right time to take a chance late in Friday’s homecoming game against Hartselle.

Although the 2-point attempt was ultimately thwarted and the Tigers held on in a 14-13 thriller, the longtime Bearcat leader didn’t regret the gamble a bit.

“We felt like it was the right call right there at the end,” he said. “I’m disappointed in probably the outcome of that play, but not disappointed in our kids by a long shot. I thought our kids played a great game.”

Hartselle quarterback Jake Tiffin raced 40 yards for the go-ahead touchdown early in the fourth quarter of a back-and-forth heavyweight fight that certainly didn’t require an hour lightning delay or steady rain in the second half to add any drama.

Cullman found a way to heap on a whole lot more in the last couple minutes, answering with a 14-play, 73-yard scoring drive capped off by Ethan McMinn’s second 1-yard touchdown run of the evening.

Down by one, the Black and Gold initially sent out Isaac Rodriguez for the extra point. Following a lengthy string of timeouts by both squads, however, they wound up opting for the offense instead.

McMinn took the handoff out of Cullman’s signature Bearcat formation, but it wasn’t to be. Hartselle’s defense held firm and stuffed him well short of the goal line.

After consecutive penalties on the ’Cats first two tries of the ensuing onside kick, Rodriguez drilled the attempt low and toward the home sideline. Just as it was intended, the ball glanced off the hand of a Hartselle player and was pounced on by Dawson Drake.

Cullman ball. At Hartselle’s 45. With 1:45 to go.

The comeback was suddenly back in reach.

Then, in the span of four straight incompletions — one was dropped — it was gone again. Ross Crocker’s last pass was tipped in the air by a defender and fell just past Drake’s outstretched arms.

The Tigers settled into the victory formation and ran out the rest of the clock.

“We felt like we had a play right there,” Britton said of the 2-point sequence. “We kept jockeying back and forth with the timeouts. They shifted late and put some guys right there and made a good play.

“That was just a classic game right there. Our kids laid it out there. That’s all you expect.”

Untimely penalties and turnovers plagued the Bearcats all night. Hartselle took advantage in the first quarter, turning its first of three recovered fumbles into six points on a 19-yard touchdown strike from Trevor Oakes to Kyle Hamlett.

Out of the delay, Cullman responded with an impressive 21-play, 79-yard scoring drive that ate up just more than nine minutes and consisted almost wholly of power runs by Drake, Ezra Burks and Josh Skinner. Aside from Crocker’s 11-yard toss to Burks, no plays on the possession went for more than six yards.

Dalton Yerby, who’d earlier pinned Hartselle at its own 1 with a perfectly placed punt, snagged an interception off a fake punt pass to make sure the score stayed 7-7 at halftime.

The Bearcats outgained the Tigers 235-210.

Nearly half of Cullman’s offensive production came from Drake, who shook off a hard hit for 111 rushing yards on 22 carries. Burks and Skinner combined for 86 yards on the ground.

Justin Patterson forced Hartselle into fourth-and-way long on its first drive of the second half with back-to-back sacks for a combined loss of 28 yards.

The Tigers improved to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the region with Florence and Austin still to play. The Bearcats dropped to 5-2 and 2-2 in the region with Decatur and Muscle Shoals left on the schedule.

A win next week at Decatur is a must for Cullman to have any hope of making the playoffs.

In a pressure cooker like Region 8, though, since when aren’t the Bearcats in a must-win situation?

“That’s exactly right. In this region, it’s every week,” Britton said. “We’re going to reload and get back after it.”