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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

Billingsley High School was edged out on the road at Notasulga High School 35-30 on Oct. 18 in the school’s penultimate Class 1A Region 4 game of the season. The Bears now sit at 3-6 on the season and will be in a must-win situation going into the final region game of the season to make the state playoffs.

Down 21-14 at halftime, the Bears came out in the second half and took a 22-21 lead. In the fourth, the team traded touchdowns as Notasulga took a 27-21 lead with 3:30 left in the game, but Kaden Cotton returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards to retake the lead 30-27 for Billingsley.

Down the stretch, Notasulga hit a long pass on third down to put them into the Bears’ red zone, and punched in the game-winning score with 32 seconds. Billingsley got to the doorstep of the end zone near the end of the game, but could not get the score.

“We did not execute very well on either side of the ball during the first half,” Billingsley head coach Lanny Jones said. “It was just a night where they made more big plays than we did and they had a lot of big breaks go their way.”

Kaden Cotton was a standout for Billingsley against Notasulga running for 155 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown. He also hauled in a touchdown pass from quarterback Landon Jones.

Jones was 10-for-18 passing for 212 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Kyle Boice was his favorite target, grabbing five catches for 140 yards and Jones’ other touchdown toss. Billingsley put together 442 yards of total offense in the loss.

Defensively, Landon Jones was the leading tackler with 13 stops, followed by Danny Boice with 11 tackles and a sack and Caleb Massey with 10 tackles.

Billingsley (3-6) travels to Keith High School on Oct. 25 for its final game of the season as the two schools will battle for the final spot in the state playoffs out of Class 1A Region 4. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.