Andalusia defense paves way for first round win over Elmore County, 27-7

The Andalusia Bulldogs advance to the second round of the playoffs with a strong showing against the Elmore County Panthers, pulling away to a 27-7 victory.

With the win, the Bulldogs improve to 7-4 on the season and will travel to UMS-Wright (5-6) after they defeated Demopolis 21-7 in their first round contest. Elmore County ends the season with a 7-3 record.

Elmore County came out strong offensively, with a 72-yard touchdown drive that took over seven minutes off the clock. After that, it was all Andalusia, aided by four Panther turnovers with the Bulldogs scoring on three of those.

“I think Elmore County came in with a very good plan,” said Andalusia Head Coach Trent Taylor. “They’re a good team and we knew that coming in. They had some things scripted and we told our kids to just hang on and they’ll get back to their base stuff, which they did.”

After that long initial drive, the Andalusia defense kept the score close until its offense found some rhythm in the second quarter.

“Defense kept us in the game with two big turnovers; a fumble recovery and pick that gave us great field position. Our offense got better in the second half. I was proud of our kicking game tonight. I was proud of (placekicker Cobb Stewart). He missed the first field goal, but came back and hit two after that. There are things we need to work on and clean up. We had some mistakes and failed to execute on some little things,” Taylor said.

Elmore County’s only score came after taking control at the 28 on the opening kickoff. The Bulldogs forced a fourth-and-one at the Panther’s own 37 and opting to go for it, Parker Hobbs to the handoff up the middle for a big gain of 24 yards across midfield to the Andalusia 39. A personal foul helped the Panthers advance to the 24. A 13-yard gain by Eli Thames put the Panthers in scoring position. A 7-yard gain by Taylor Payton followed by a 3-yard first-down run by quarterback Caleb Spivey gave Elmore County a fresh set out downs at 3-yard line. The Bulldog defense stood strong, holding the Panthers on the first three downs. On fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line, Spivey dove over the line and stretched into the end zone for the score. Tate McNeely’s extra point gave the Panthers a 7-0 lead.

Andalusia followed with a drive of its own, taking the ball as far as the Panther 15. But, the drive lost momentum and Stewart missed on a 39-yard field goal attempt.

The Bulldog defense quickly forced a punt from the Panthers. With Zerrick Jones and Jordyn Skanes taking turns running the ball, Andalusia proceeded down field to the Panther 18 where Stewart got another shot, this time hitting a 35-yard field goal to cut the Panther lead to 7-3 with 8:05 to go in the second quarter.

The Panthers made its first big mistake on its next possession when Spivey looked deep but didn’t account for Bulldog Trent Batten who hauled in the interception and returned it to the Panther 19-yard line. A few plays later, quarterback Noah Curry ran the ball in from seven yards leading to the Bulldogs first lead, 10-7, with 4:32 remaining in the first half.

The Panther’s next position also ended in a turnover as Bulldog Neillex Ferrell recovered a fumble at the Panther 32-yard line.

Andalusia continued to feed Skanes and Jones out of the backfield to move the ball forward. The Panthers forced a third down and long, but an interference call moved the ball to the 13 setting up a four-yard first-down run by Jones. From there, Skanes took three handoffs with the final one being a 1-yard push into the end zone with only 3.5 seconds remaining in the first half. Cobb’s PAT lifted Andalusia to a 17-7 halftime lead.

After forcing an Andalusia punt to start the first half, the Panther offense fumbled a toss-sweep and Calvin Daniel was on top of it, giving the Bulldogs a scoring opportunity at the 4-yard line. The Panther defense wouldn’t budge, forcing Andalusia to settle for a 20-yard field goal by Cobb as the Bulldogs stretched its lead to 20-7.

The turnovers kept coming for the Bulldog defense. The Panthers were looking to go deep on its next possession, but senior Cadariyus Love was there to pull it in near midfield. The Bulldogs upped their advantage when Skanes broke through the line and weaved through the secondary for a 22-yard touchdown. Cobb’s extra point completed the scoring in the contest as the Bulldogs held the Panthers the rest of the way.

The only fireworks that came in the final period came in the way of off-setting personal fouls. An Andalusia player was called for a late hit out of bounds. The retaliation strike by a Panther led to that player’s ejection from the game.