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By BILLSHELTON Times Sports Editor Potency is defined as “having or wielding force, authority or influence.” And in football on any level, the word can be used appropriately to describe those teams which put both offensive and defensive traits into one strong package. This was the case for Cullman High School's Bearcats who wielded domineering force in both areas against West Point here Friday night, produc ing their fourth straight vic tory of 1978 by a 41-0 margin. Potency came in the form of an offensive attack which piled up 378 total yards, in cluding 337 on the ground as quarterback Paul Alex ander picked up 113 on eight carries and tailback Steve Knight netted an even 100 on 15 carries. Alexander raced into the end zone twice for scores, one on a 73-yard sprint, and fullback Johnny Crider also scored twice while gaining 42 yards on 11 carries. Another touchdown came on an Alexander pass to Todd Hermetz, covering 25 yards, and the other came on a pass from second string quarterback Mark Brit ton(starting tight end) to Chris Vickery from the seven-yard line. And depth was shown in the conversion category as Chuck Branch, Bryan Cain and Britton each booted a point after touchdown and Terry Harbin added a two pointer. The defense, led by John Buettner, Dennis Miller, Barry Garrett and Brad Glenn up front, John Whisenhunt and Doug Rice at linebackers and Bruce Bryan and Dan Paulovich at ends, limited the West Point running game to 30 yards. West Point went with star ting quarterback Skip Grif fin for two and a half quarters and then Ken Sullins came on for about a quarter with Richard Har bison finishing up. It turned out that a reserve back, sophomore Henry Guthery, took rushing honors for the War riors with 32 yards on five carries. Next was Keith Rainwater who carried four times for 10 yards followed by Randall Smith with six on four and Ronnie McClellan who gained five on two rushes. Keith Morrow was held to three net yards on 10 rushes and Johnny Wilson added three on two at tempts. Other Cullman rushers were Cain with 37 on six car ries, Harbin with 31 on four, ritten with four on two. The toss of the coin was won by West Point as cap tains Morrow and Randall Campbell met Cullman cap tains Whisenhunt and Jason Knight and co-captains Crider, Harbin and Rice at the center of the field at 7:28. A couple of minutes later, Rainwater returned Brit ton's kickoff three yards to the 27 but three plays netted minus yardage and Griffin got off a 31-yard punt to Cullman’s 47. Beginning at the that marker, the ‘Cats opened the road to their first score though the Warriors yielded grudgingly behind defenders like Campbell, Leo Yearwood, Mike Osmer, Keith Brown, Phillip White, Jody Laney and David Taylor. On the 10th play of the match after Crider, S. Knight and Cain had carried the lead, Crider smashed up the middle from the four and Branch booted the 7th point with 6:25 showing on the clock. On its next possession, Cullman ran one play and then fumbled with Laney recovering for West Point on the 32. The next possession began on the Cullman 23 and on the big one Alexander, who's already broken some big ones during the season, dashed 73 yards for the se cond Cullman TD. Year wood blocked Branch's PAT attempt and that made it 13- 0 with 10:20 left in the se cond period. Midway of the quarter, West Point appeared to have on the Calimen 27. Howeever, the Warriors couldn't penetrate the Bear cat defensive wall, sur rendering the ball on downs at the 4. Calling the first play from there, Alexander hit Britton with a nine-yard aerial, then S. Knight got his club across midfield with a 19-yard ram ble. Finally, Alexander scored his second TD and Cullman’s third with 29 seconds left in the half, then handed off to Harbin who scored the two-point conver sion for a 21-4 margin. A 70-yard six-play drive led to the Bearcats’ fourth TD early in the third period with sure-handed Hermetz snaring Alexander's 25- yarder in the right corner of the end zone. This time Cain kicked the extra point and Cullman led 28-0 at the 7:01 mark of the third stanza. Key play in the drive was Harbin's 27-yard run. After Griffin's sixth punt of the game two minutes later, the Bearcats proceed ed to drive 69 yards for TD No. 5 in 11 plays, Crider cap ping it off from the nine. Cullman was in business again shortly when Harbin intercepted a Sullins pass and returned to the West Point 18. But the West Point defense stiffened at that point with Keith Brown and Taylor making a couple of the key plays and enable the offense to regain possession. After both teams exchang ed fumbles to the next two minutes, the Bearcats were headed for their final TD after Branch’s interception return to the West Point serem. Britton failed to gain on the first snap but came back on second down hit Vickery over the middle for the score. Britton’s PAT ended the Cullman scoring with 3:44 left in the game. The West Point offense, which hasn’t scored in the series since the Warriors’ 22-12 win over Cullman in 1974, ignited its strongest advancement of the game following the kickoff, mov ing from their 36 into Cullman territory behind Guthery's running and a 15- yard penalty against Cullman which got them to the Cullman 19. With the final seconds ticking away, the Warriors managed to reach the six on Griffin's eight-yard pass to Morrow as the horn sound ed. Cullman’s running game, which netted 337 yards, averaged 6.7 a carry behind the likes of blockers Rice at center, Bryan and Miller at tackle and Glenn, Buettner and Tim Garrett at guards. The Bearcats are now 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the area as they look ahead to next Fri day night’s showdown at Hanceville. The Warriors, now 3-1, host Fairview’s Ag gies the same. CULLMAN—1 downs, 13; yards rushing, passes fumbles lost, 3; punts-over., 0-0; yards penalized, 95. WEST POINT— first downs, 6; yards fumbles lost, 1; punts aver., 6-30.5; yards penaliz ed, 9.
Newspaper Details
Cullman Times Democrat
Cullman, Alabama, US
Sun, Sep 17, 1978
Page 17
Full Page
Clipped by
Henry G.
USA 08 Jun 2026
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