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Montevallo showed its resilience against Jemison as the Bulldogs scored a fourth-quarter touchdown to grab a one-point win over their 5A foe. (For the Reporter/Markee Canada)

By SCOTT MIMS | Special to the Reporter

MONTEVALLO – After narrowly losing their Sept. 22 game to West Blocton by 3 points, the Montevallo Bulldogs found themselves in yet another close matchup Friday night—but this time the odds were in their favor, as they sneaked past Jemison, 21-20.

“Last week, I thought we played pretty well; we lost. This week, I don’t know that we played that great, but we found a way to come out on top,” Montevallo coach Blake Boren said. “The bottom line is, we won, we’re excited for our kids. Wins matter; wins are important. Anytime you win a football game, it takes a collective effort of our team.”

Boren said his players showed resilience Friday night considering that at one point, the Bulldogs were down 20-7.

“I think at times in the past, we might have had some teams that folded, and that didn’t happen tonight,” he added.

Jemison’s Chaz Melton started things off with a 7-yard touchdown run with 4:12 in the second quarter. However, Montevallo’s Dee Cutts took the kickoff return all the way home to tie the game as the clock ticked down to 4:00.

A massive 47-yard passing play from Jemison’s Luke Gann to Melton gave the Panthers good field position. Then, with 6 seconds remaining, Kintre Jackson hauled in a 17-yard touchdown pass. The conversion attempt was no good, making it 13-7 Jemison going into halftime.

The Panthers would strike again in the third, as Gann found Melton again from 29 yards out. Combined with the PAT, Jemison now had a 20-7 advantage over the Bulldogs.

The momentum shifted again when Montevallo’s Christian Tolbert returned a kickoff down to the Jemison 19-yard line. This set up a touchdown pass from Braxton King to Javon Rogers, cutting Jemison’s lead to within one score.

With 8:06 to go in the fourth, Razareo Conwell’s 2-yard trip across the goal line put the Bulldogs even with the Panthers, and Benjamin Locks’ PAT secured them the lead, 21-20.

In the final minutes of the game, Jemison got as far as the Montevallo 26-yard line but could not capitalize.

Conwell rushed for 100 yards on 22 carries with one touchdown, while King rushed for 22 yards on seven carries. Defensively, Peyton King made two sacks and Nylan Hill-Goode made one sack.