In front of a large homecoming crowd, the undefeated Montevallo Bulldogs defeated the Oakman Wildcats as a result of a safety by junior Demetrius Smith in the last 51 seconds of the game leaving the score, 23-21, Friday, Oct. 7.

“I was very proud of our kids and the way they played until the very end,” head coach Brandon Wilcox said. “We have to do a better job of finishing off some drives but overall it is always great when you win homecoming and even better when you do it against a top 10 region opponent.”

During the first two minutes of the game, both teams remained scoreless. It wasn’t until the last two possessions of the second half that Montevallo put together drives for touchdowns.

The first score came after senior Zac Oden handed off the ball to sophomore Jay Sullens for a gain of 26 yards for the Dogs. Oden then threw the ball to senior Treshawn Brown.  The ball was tipped by Oakman, but caught by junior Daqwan Bryant who ran it to the endzone for a touchdown.  Senior Diego Martinez tacked on the extra point putting the Dogs up by seven.

On the next play, Oakman ran the kickoff return 67 yards to put them in scoring position. Two plays later, Oakman tied up the game 7-7.

On the Bulldogs’ next possession, Oden found Brown open for progress to the 20 yard line. Bryant then caught the ball and got it in the corner of the end zone for another touchdown leaving the score 14-7 at the half.

After half-time, Oakman evened the score at 14 with a hand off to Wildcat junior Jon Avery.

Unable to score on their next drive, Montevallo’s defense held the Wildcats at the Bulldog 25-yard line keeping the quarterback shy of further yardage on the fourth down.

With the ball back in Bulldog possession, Oden threw a pass to Brown putting the Dogs at the Wildcat 40-yard line. However, the Dogs were unable to score due to an Oden fumble.

The Wildcats scored on their next possession giving them a seven point lead.  With minutes left on the clock, the Bulldogs scored again with a touchdown pass to Bryant. Martinez tied up the game with the extra point.  

Montevallo’s defense was able to keep the Wildcats from scoring.  With 51 seconds left on the clock, Oakman’s center snapped the ball over the punter’s head during the punt return resulting in a safety by junior Demetrius Smith, putting the Dogs up 23-21.  

“I just played my part in order to get the win,”  Smith said.  “All the credit I give to God.”  

Oakman tried an onside kick to get the ball, but the Bulldogs recovered it, ending the game.

Oden completed 14 of 30 passes for 321 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Brown led the team with 3 catches for 77 yards.  He also had 12 tackles.

Bryant had 6 catches for 154 yards and 3 touchdowns.

“The win felt amazing,” Bryant said.  “All of the hard work we put in paid off tonight.  My brothers and I persevered through adversity and got a great win.”

Sullens had 2 catches for 78 yards. 

Smith led the Dogs defensively with 13 tackles and 3 sacks.