By Gary Thomas

In a very important 1A Region 2 battle, the Brantley Bulldogs traveled down U.S. Highway 331 to face the Florala Wildcats and came away with a 36-22 loss Friday.

The Cats got the scoring early in the game with 6:56 in the first quarter on a 25-yard running play to give Florala a 6-0 lead. But the Bulldogs’ quarterback Jayden Parks got the Dogs on the board with 9:24 left in the second quarter when Parks hit his wideout on a 23-yard scoring toss and the score hit 6-6.

With 1:40 left before the half, Brantley scored on a two-yard run. This time the Dogs two-point attempt was successful and the teams headed into the locker room with Brantley ahead 14-6.

To start the second half, the Wildcats took the score up to 14-14 on a five-yard scoring blast. The touchdown was set up on a 32-yard passing play. With a strong Wildcat defense, the Wildcats broke the tie to go up 22-14. With 11:04 left in the game, the Wildcats went on a 10-play, 56-yard drive to go up 30-14.

Quarterback Jayden Parks and his green-clad offense scored on a 27-yard pass to running back Tyler Carter for the score. A good kick closed the gap to 30-22. But on the ensuing kickoff, the Wildcats returned 74 yards to the Brantley five-yard line. On the next play, the Cats put some distance between them scoring a swing pass to close the game 36-22.

Brantley slipped into the fifth slot with the loss and are now 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the region. They play on the road in McKenzie this Friday at 7 p.m.