GRAHAM CARR / Staff Writer

FULTONDALE-Fultondale High School used a huge halftime lead and cruised to a 64-26 victory over Montevallo High School at Fultondale High School on Aug. 30.

Andrew Zow lost his opening game as the Bulldogs head coach, but  he said he liked how his team fought the whole game.

“That is all I ask of our guys to do-to compete regardless of what the outcome is the only thing we can control right now is our effort and we showed effort and we competed,” Zow said

Zow said the scoreboard will eventually start being in their favor if his team  keeps competing, but they have to cut down on the mistakes.

“We had a lot of mental errors where we were not in position,” Zow said. “I told my guys if we are in position, we make those plays but we didn’t. I felt offensively we did ok. We just had some penalties that backed us up and that hurts in the long run.”

The Bulldogs had a hard time containing Alabama commit and Fultondale quarterback ArDarius Stewart who had five total touchdowns, three passing and two rushing.

The scoring started early when Stewart threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to make it 7-0 with 10:11 left in the opening quarter.  Stewart then ran in a 32-yard touchdown at the 6:48 for the first quarter making it 13-0 after the extra point was blocked.  Fultondale added another touchdown run and a two-point conversion at the 1:58 mark extending the lead to 21-0.

In the second quarter, Stewart had his longest run of the night of 66 yards to stretch the lead to 28-0 with 10:10 left in the half after the extra point.

Stewart threw his second touchdown pass at the 6:54 mark first half and the extra point was good to make the score 35-0 going into the half.

At the 9:27 mark of third quarter, Stewart threw a 44-yard touchdown pass and Fultondale tacked on the extra point to make the score 42-0. Fultondale added two more quick touchdown runs at the 7:35 and 5:49 marks of the third quarter to make the score 56-0 after both extra points were good.

Montevallo got on the board at the 2:09 mark third quarter when junior running back Quandarius Jackson scored on a 6-yard touchdown run.  The Bulldogs succeeded on the two-point conversion closing the gap to 56-8.

Montevallo scored again when Fultondale’s punter had the snap go through his hands and through the end zone for a safety, making the score 56-10 with 7:16 left in the third.

Montevallo scored on the following possession when junior receiver Quintezz Stevens ran in a 2-yard touchdown run at the 6:18 mark. The Bulldogs succeeded on the two-point conversion making the score 56-18. Fultondale added another score and two-point conversion with 3:21 left to extend their lead to 64-18.

Montevallo sophomore running back Daymon Smith ran in a 31-yard touchdown at the 2:41 of the fourth quarter to end the scoring at 64-26 after the two point conversion.

Montevallo finished with 371 total yards with 273 of those yards being on the ground.  Senior quarterback Trevor Chatham was 8-of-20 passes for 98 yards and two interceptions.  Senior running back Ronezz Stevens led the Bulldogs in rushing with 98 yards on 14 attempts and was followed by Jackson with 85 yards on 14 attempts.  Cortez Williams was third in rushing with 61 yards on five attempts.