Cullman's defense derails an Etowah player during last Friday's victory.

This is shaping up to be the year of the rout for the Cullman Bearcats.

Through two games, at least.

Ross Crocker and Dawson Drake hooked up for two touchdowns through the air, Isaac Rodriguez boomed an early 43-yard field goal and the Cullman defense allowed just a single score for the second straight week to hand Etowah a 31-6 loss Friday night at Oliver Woodard Stadium.

Etowah, ranked 10th in Class 5A, led 6-3 at the end of the first quarter and trailed just 17-6 at halftime thanks to a trio of long gains. Almost half of the Blue Devils’ 149 total yards at the break came on a 73-yard run by Stacy Williams, and another 78 were the product of a pair of 35-plus-yard plays.

Take away those three downs, and the ‘Cats kept Etowah (0-2) in the negative.

According to linebacker Justin Patterson, the key to recovering from those few lapses was a simple switch in attitude.

“I know personally when I’m mad, I don’t play as good as I can,” he said. “You have to sit on the sideline, calm down, realize we’re winning and go at it.”

And go the Black and Gold did, piling on highlight after highlight in all three aspects of the game.

Cullman retook the lead not even two minutes into the second quarter with a nine-play, 69-yard possession capped off by a 28-yard pass by Crocker to a shifty Drake.

The Bearcats reached into Mark Britton’s bag of tricks on their next scoring drive. Drake took the ball on an apparent sweep but pitched it back to Weston Norton, who successfully floated a 32-yard heave to a wide-open Caden Winn.

Ethan McMinn capitalized shortly after with a 10-yard touchdown run — already his fourth of the season — through traffic up the middle.

McMinn kept the train rolling with his second interception in as many weeks to halt Etowah’s first possession of the second half. Ezra Burks capitalized with a pair of big runs for 47 yards, the most impressive a 32-yard sprint down the left sideline after shaking off a facemask penalty.

Patterson bulldozed in from a yard out just three plays later.

Still, the spotlight on the possession clearly belonged to Burks, who the Cullman sideline made sure to point out to anyone within shouting distance is merely a freshman.

“They gave us a lot of momentum,” Drake said of the youngster’s lengthy carries. “I think he’s a little stud we’ve got coming up.”

Drake snuck past the Blue Devil D and hauled in a 22-yard touchdown pass from Crocker to round out the scoring in the fourth quarter.

Crocker finished 10 of 19 for 155 yards and the two touchdowns. Drake picked up 88 yards on five receptions and another 25 on the ground.

Burks concluded his coming-out party with 67 yards on eight carries. He also had a 15-yard catch for a first down on Cullman’s final scoring drive.

Reese Harbison reeled in a 43-yard pass on the Bearcats’ opening possession for all but one yard of his receiving output. Winn added 40 yards on three catches.

Cullman is now averaging just less than 44 points a game through two contests.

“I think we’re pretty explosive,” Drake said. “A lot better than last year.”

Patterson felt the same way about the defense, which yielded only 97 yards in the second half.

Caleb Lipsey had a pair of tackles for loss, and Garret Cornelius and Wil Blaylock each had at least one. Several others involved multiple defenders ganging up to bring down Etowah’s stable of speedsters in the backfield.

Dalton Yerby blocked the extra point on the Blue Devils’ only score. Patterson had an 11-yard sack for a turnover on downs in the first half.

“I love it,” said Patterson, in his fourth year at the varsity level. “I think this is the best defense I’ve been a part of.”

Rodriguez, a soccer standout playing in only his second football game, started the scoring by putting just enough on his 43-yard kick.

“Isaac’s a dang good kicker,” Drake said. “He smacks ’em all the time in practice.”

Added Cullman coach Mark Britton: “That’s a big boost. And it’s not just three points. It’s the confidence in our kids that we can do something like that and we can score.”

Williams’ 73-yard sprint could’ve easily turned into six points if McMinn hadn’t stuck with the play and chased him down at the 6. Though Williams scored two snaps later, Britton hadn’t forgotten McMinn’s hustle.

“I think that’s a character difference in our team this year,” Britton said. “That “don’t give up” attitude.”

After a one-season hiatus, the 6A ’Cats are back atop their 2-0 perch for the ninth time in 10 falls.

The Black and Gold will have two full weeks to prepare for their region opener at No. 6 Florence, which fell 12-10 to Whitehaven (Tenn.). In the meantime, Patterson said Cullman is “going to rest a little bit and then we’re going to get to it.”

Britton clarified the getting to it part will consist of a lot of running and conditioning, which he credited for his squad’s spotless start.

“When you really torque it up, you hope you come out 2-0,” the 15th-year Cullman coach said. “You don’t want to come out 0-2 or really 1-1 because you’re going to be in the same spot you were in last year. It’s hard for kids to say here’s the benefits of a hard offseason when I’m still at the same record as last year.”