By Brandon Sumrall / Special to the Advertiser

The Chilton County Tigers took to the road Oct. 19 to take on an area foe in the Marbury Bulldogs. Despite a 28-0 victory, the evening did not go quite the way the Tigers had planned, as a third-quarter brawl would cost both team multiple players.

“That is not how we represent this school, this county or this community. I think our guys that left the sideline went out to pull other guys off. I don’t believe that there was any malicious intent on their behalf, but at the same time they can’t leave the bench. I am glad we got the win, but it just leaves a bad taste in your mouth,” said Tigers head coach Tal Morrison.

Despite the altercation, the Tigers secure a third-place spot in the region with the victory with one area game remaining.

Both team’s offenses would struggle during the early going, as the first quarter would come and go with no points on the scoreboard.

The Bulldogs would start the second quarter with possession of the football, but a fourth and 25 from their own 25 would see a shanked punt by Marbury set the Tigers up first and 10 at the Marbury 30.

Three plays later and Shikeem Laister would put the first points of the game on the board thanks to a 12-yard touchdown run that would give Chilton an early 7-0 lead.

Marbury looked poised to answer with their ensuing possession, as a pair of long pass completions by quarterback Jakheil Waller would move the Bulldogs down close to the Tigers’ red zone. However, a third and 17 from the Chilton 27 would see Kevin Staffney come up with an interception for Chilton that would set the Tigers up first and 10 at their own 36.

From there, an eight play, 64-yard scoring drive would ensue as Devonte Robinson would cap things off with a 1-yard touchdown run that would make it a 14-0 lead with 1:46 remaining in the first half.

The first half action was far from done, as a quick three and out by the Bulldogs would see a blocked punt by the Tigers that would give Chilton one more scoring opportunity with 1:13 to play.

It would take only one play for Laister to find pay dirt again, this time on a 17-yard touchdown run that would put the Tigers up 21-0 at the half.

The second half would start much they way the first ended, as a quick three and out by the Bulldogs would set up another scoring drive by the Tigers. A Bulldogs’ punt would give the ball over to the Tigers at their own 36, where Cameron Wright and Robinson would go to work on the ground.

Runs of 13, 10, and 11 would propel the Tigers out across midfield. Chilton would continue to pound the ball on the ground before Laister would again find the end zone with a 14-yard touchdown run that would make it a 28-0 Tigers lead early in the third quarter.

The ensuing Marbury possession would begin at their own 37, where a first down completion by Waller to Dantaivius Bristrow would set the Bulldogs up near midfield. A pair of penalties against the Bulldogs would precede a first and 20 play that would see a fumble by Marbury that would be picked up by Griffin Farris for the Tigers.

The ensuing possession by the Tigers would be short-lived, however, as the first play of the drive would see a Tigers fumble that would be picked up by the Bulldogs. Though the play was over, the action was not, as the melee for the ball would be followed by a melee by several Tiger and Bulldogs players alike.

As helmets and fists flew, so did flags. Once order was restored, several players from each team would see their nights end early thanks to ejections.

Once play resumed, each team would be forced to play deep into their bench, and with neither able to mount much offense, it would be the Tigers that would manage to clench the victory.

“We had one bad incident that overshadows a pretty decent game. We had a couple of mistakes early on on offense, but our defense shut down the run. I don’t know what the yardage was on their runs, but I bet it wasn’t more than 50 yards for the entire game. I thought our defense did an excellent job shutting down the run. We were able to establish the outside run on offense, and then were able to hit them with a couple of good inside runs and pound them a little bit. It was good win for us, it just frustrates me that we had this happen with what we have been doing this year and what we have coming up next week,” said Morrison.

Wright led the Tigers’ rushing attack with 127 yards on 16 carries, while Laister added 57 yards on eight carries with three touchdowns.

CCHS (4-4 overall, 4-1 Class 5A, Region 3) will host Demopolis, who currently sits atop the region, on Oct. 26.