TALLADEGA – The Winterboro Bulldogs proved they could play with any classification when they defeated the Talladega Tigers, 28-13 at Mary Dumas Stadium on Friday.

Both teams struggled with penalties and turnovers, but Winterboro was able to capitalize on more mistakes and came out with the victory.

The Bulldogs struck first after getting good field position after a turnover by Talladega early in the first quarter. The Bulldogs relied on the run game to get down to the 2-yard line where Curtavious Gray punched the ball across the goal line to give the Bulldogs the early lead with 5:35 to go in the opening stanza. The extra-point was good and Winterboro held a 7-0 advantage.

The Talladega Tigers came back strong and took advantage of good field position off of a bad snap on a Winterboro punt early in the second quarter. Talladega took over at the Bulldogs’ 11-yard line, but was pushed back to the 23 on a holding penalty. Talladega’s Semaj Roberson threw two incomplete passes, but the third pass was snagged by LaCorey Tucker for a 23-yard touchdown. The extra point was good and Talladega tied the game, 7-7 with 10:05 remaining in the first half.

Winterboro answered on its next drive. Quarterback Josh Taylor broke loose on a 55-yard run for a touchdown to give the lead back to the Bulldogs, 14-7 with 7:29 to go until intermission.

The Bulldogs added another seven points to the scoreboard before halftime with Taylor again punching it in from 2-yards out. The extra point gave Winterboro a 21-7 lead with 20 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

Talladega came out with a strong drive to start the third quarter. The Tigers capped a 12-play drive with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Roberson to Jesse Marbury with 7:25 to go in the third period. Talladega trailed, 21-13 after the point-after attempt failed.

The Tigers had two missed opportunities in the third period with both drives starting within Winterboro’s 35-yard line.

“We played pretty good ball in the third quarter,” Talladega coach Chris Mahand said. “We can’t wait around and play football in the third quarter. We’ve got to play for four quarters and that’s what we didn’t do tonight. Winterboro did and the results showed.”

Talladega’s defense managed to keep the Bulldogs out of the end zone until late in the fourth quarter.

The Bulldogs recovered a Talladega fumble on the Tigers 43-yard line with 7:45 remaining in the game. Winterboro relied on strong running from Gray and Taylor to drive down to the 6-yard line. On third and goal from the 6, Gray ran the ball into the end zone and the extra point gave Winterboro a 28-13 lead with 2:41 to go in the ballgame.

Taylor led all rushers with 181 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries. Gray added 60 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries.

“They lined up in a defense that made it successful,” Winterboro head coach Adam Fossett said of Taylor’s running. “(Taylor is) not a quitter by any means. He made a ton of yards after contact. He’s a very tough individual.

“This is a big win for the team. Everybody did their job. Tae (Gray) came up big for us. Tae is a load. If you see him coming at you, you’ve got to decide if you’re going to hit him low, get out of the way, or wrap up and hang on for the ride. Tae did a good job for us as well. I thought our offensive line stepped up as well and made some great strides tonight.”

Devante Groce led Talladega in rushing with 26 yards on nine carries. Roberson completed nine passes for 121 yards. Dominique Johnson was the leading receiver for the Tigers, with six catches for 72 yards.

Contact Heather Baggett at hbaggett@dailyhome.com