By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director

CEDAR BLUFF – First-year Cedar Bluff head football coach Cole Murphy is getting used to being dunked by the water cooler following big games this season.

He got one for his first win in the Tigers’ season-opener at West End. Last week, Murphy received another dunking for beating rival Gaylesville to creep into the Class 1A playoff hunt.

On Thursday night, he received his latest drenching following Cedar Bluff’s 34-23 victory over another rival, the Sand Rock Wildcats.

That one just might’ve been the sweetest of all the dunks Murphy has had this season, because it clinched a playoff berth for the Tigers on their senior night. Cedar Bluff (5-5) will travel to fourth-ranked Hubbertville (9-1) next Friday.

“I don’t care (if they keep dunking me), as long as they keep playing like that. But if it gets too cold now, we’re going to have to talk about it,” Murphy joked.

“I’m just super proud of the kids. It’s not always been the way I’ve wanted it this year, but they’ve just continued to work hard, and it showed tonight. And it’s not just the kids. It’s the way the coaches have bought into me being here, what I want done and the way I want it done.”

Murphy said making the playoffs wasn’t that big of a conversation he had with the Tigers this week. Last year’s game – in which Sand Rock quarterback Alec Ashley accounted for 489 total yards and threw for eight touchdowns in a 68-40 shootout – was.

“It was mentioned a lot,” Murphy said. “It was a motivator for our kids. The biggest thing for the kids was the playoffs didn’t matter. It was we’ve got to set the standard tonight versus another rival like we did last week against Gaylesville. That was more motivating than all the extra stuff that comes with doing your job.”

Another water cooler dousing of Murphy wasn’t looking as if it was in the cards early for the Tigers on Thursday. Sand Rock (4-6) gained the momentum in the second quarter after tackling Jamison Miller in the end zone for a safety. Then, on the ensuing free kick, Ashley added to the Wildcat lead with his 1-yard touchdown run for a 9-0 advantage with 7:35 remaining in the first half.

Cedar Bluff answered on a Jeremiah Miller 5-yard touchdown run, set up by his brother Jamison’s 52-yard scamper on the first play of the drive. The ensuing extra point attempt was no good, keeping Sand Rock in front 9-6.

The Wildcat defense came up big again later in the quarter when Jack Dutton intercepted Cedar Bluff quarterback Dallas Storey near midfield. Nine plays later, Lucas Brown scored on a 5-yard touchdown run. Bailey Martin’s extra point pushed Sand Rock out to a 10-point lead at 16-6.

But that’s when the tide started to turn for the Tigers.

Storey shook off the interception and connected with Corbin Reese on a 42-yard touchdown pass just before halftime. Storey ran up the middle for the 2-point conversion, bringing the Tigers within two at the break at 16-14.

“That (score before halftime) loosened everybody up,” Murphy said. “We were kind of struggling, not moving the ball, and then we had to hurry up, but we hit that big play with Corbin across the middle. He makes a big gain into a touchdown. That just gave us that momentum where we were like ‘Okay, it’s a 2-point game, we’ve got this.’ We just took it from there.”

“We just didn’t make a play on the ball,” Sand Rock coach Tanner Nelson said. “They caught it in front of us, then we missed a tackle after that. They had momentum going into halftime. In rivalry games and big games like this, that momentum going into halftime is crucial. They took away our momentum, and that was tough.”

Sand Rock received the ball to open the third quarter, but the Tiger defense forced the Wildcats into a three-and-out. Ezra Robison stepped back to punt from the Sand Rock 21-yard line but went to a knee on a low snap.

Three plays later, Storey gave the Tigers their first lead after he fumbled the ball, recovered and dashed in for a 2-yard score. Jeremiah Miller ran in for the 2-point conversion to extend Cedar Bluff’s advantage to 22-16.

Disaster struck Sand Rock again on the ensuing kickoff. The Wildcats fumbled and Cedar Bluff recovered at the 35-yard line. Three plays later, Jeremiah Miller scored again on a 25-yard burst. Storey’s rush for 2 fell short of the goal line, but the Tigers had pushed their lead out to 28-16 with just under eight minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Sand Rock was forced to punt again on its next possession. This time, a high snap resulted in a fumble recovered by the Tigers’ Kolton Sanford at the Wildcat 17. However, penalties backed up Cedar Bluff and the Tigers turned the ball over on downs.

“That was just a couple of special teams errors there that gave them a real short field,” Nelson said. “You can’t do that in this type of game.”

Early in the fourth, momentum swung back the Wildcats’ way following Isaiah Lewis’ interception of Storey, who returned it to the Tiger 35. Three plays later, Ashley scored again on a 19-yard run. Following the extra point, Sand Rock had crept within five at 28-23 with 9:51 left in the game.

Cedar Bluff ate up 5:28 of the clock on a 12-play scoring drive, capped by Jamison Miller’s 30-yard touchdown run. Jeremiah Miller’s 2-point conversion run fell short, keeping the score at 34-23 with 4:19 to go.

Ashley led the Wildcats back down the field. They reached the Tiger 11-yard line, but Storey killed the drive by picking off Ashley to preserve the lead and the win.

Jamison Miller led the Tigers with 143 yards on 19 carries with a score. Jeremiah Miller gained 91 yards on seven totes with two touchdowns. Storey finished with 89 yards on 16 carries with a touchdown. He was also 4-of-11 with 61 yards passing.

In his final game at Sand Rock, Ashley completed 10-of-23 passes for 114 yards. Lathan Amos was his top receiver with eight catches for 74 yards.

Ashley also led the Wildcat ground game with 65 yards on 18 carries with two touchdowns and had an interception on defense.

“He’s meant a lot to this program,” Nelson said. “He’s a guy who comes in every day and works his butt off. You just hate it for him. Those are the guys you wish you had back and you never lose. They mean so much. They do everything right. You don’t ever have to worry about them being on time or doing anything wrong. They’re just high character guys.”