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By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor

MONTEVALLO – The Montevallo Bulldogs dropped their final region game of the season on Friday, Oct. 21 in a hard-fought matchup with region winner American Christian.

The Bulldogs, who were clinging to slight playoff hopes entering the home game, played another strong defensive game, but ultimately, the offense couldn’t do enough against one of the best defenses on their schedule in a 24-7 loss.

With the loss, Montevallo fell to 3-6 on the season and finished region play at 3-4, which will force them to miss the playoff after losing games to West Blocton and Sipsey Valley, which settled the tiebreaker.

In the matchup against ACA, the Bulldogs played a stellar defensive game against one of the state’s top Class 4A teams.

The Patriots were held scoreless for the entirety of the first quarter and posted just one touchdown in the first half.

That score came on a 46-yard touchdown pass that put them in front 7-0 with 7:06 left in the opening half of the game.

Despite the defense getting off the field much of the first half, Montevallo’s offense never could capitalize, and that lone score from American Christian was the only one of the half.

Trailing 7-0 to start the second half, the Bulldogs needed a fast start to the quarter, but instead, it went the other way.

The defense continued to keep them in the game, as the third quarter came and went with a scoreless 12 minutes.

In the final quarter, however, Montevallo’s defense being on the field the majority of the game began to become costly.

American Christian scored on a 5-yard rushing touchdown 1:18 into the final quarter and then added a 43-yard field goal two minutes later to make it 17-0.

Montevallo got a big response on a 65-yard touchdown pass from Braxton King to Javon Rogers to make it a 10-point game with 8:10 remaining.

The Patriots, however, responded with a 4-yard rushing touchdown with 5:23 left to put the game out of reach at 24-7.

Anthony Martin finished with 101 yards on the ground for the Bulldogs, while King finished with one touchdown pass and 121 yards. Rogers totaled 72 yards and a touchdown on two receptions.

Defensively, Charlie Adams totaled 11 tackles for the Bulldogs, while adding a sack and fumble recovery. Rogers added an interception and two tackles, while Elfreeman Morton and Hunter Lutz added eight and seven tackles, respectively.

The loss moved Montevallo to 3-6 on the season ahead of the team’s final game of the season at home against Tarrant on Friday, Oct. 28.