By Brandon Sumrall | Special to the Advertiser

With a first-round win over Loachapoka (27-26) last week in the Class 1A state football playoffs under their belt, the Billingsley Bears found themselves face-to-face with a perennial 1A powerhouse in round two, the Brantley Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs came into Mims Field as the No. 1 team in the state in Class 1A, with an unblemished record, an average margin of victory of 50 points and seven shutouts. The Bears were riding a five-game winning streak and were hoping to repay the Bulldogs for showing the Bears the way out of the playoffs back in 1993, when the teams last met (Brantley won 27-8).

But the Bulldogs showed the Bears why they are No. 1 and the favorite to win the 1A championship this year by soundly defeating the Bears 48-0 on Friday night, giving the Bulldogs their eighth shutout of the season.

Brantley won the coin toss and elected to go on offense. 55 yards later, Andrew Lowery hit Otis Guice for a 32-yard touchdown pass to give the Bulldogs an early 7-0 lead.

The Bears looked as though they would answer right back with a score of their own, driving to the Brantley side of the field before a Thomas Nichols pass was intercepted by Nedarius Howard, who returned it to the Billingsley 37-yard line.

The Bulldog offense capitalized in the turnover on a Andrew Parker 16-yard touchdown run to put the Bears down 14-0 at the 3:19 mark of the first quarter.

While the Brantley defense made the going tough for Billingsley, their offense would go in to score on their next three possessions of the half on touchdown runs of 4 and 10 yards by Parker and a 68-yard touchdown pass from Lowery to Howard, and the Bulldogs went in at the half up in the Bears 34-0.

The flow of the game would not change in the second half as Brantley continued to pour on the points while continuing to shut down the Billingsley offense.

Brantley would get the second half scoring started on a Parker 3-yard touchdown run, his fourth of the game, giving the Bulldogs a 41-0 third quarter lead.

The Billingsley defense would come up with their only turnover of the game on the next Bulldog possession when Torrey Green intercepted Lowery.

The Bulldogs offense would find the end zone one last time on the night on a Brandon Walker 8-yard touchdown run to make the final score 48-0.

“I am very proud of our boys; we have had a pretty good season,” Billingsley coach Tyson McClean said. “Brantley has some great athletes.”

The Bears finish the season with an 8-4 record, while Brantley moves to 12-0 and Round 3 of the Class 1A state playoffs.

For Billingsley, Terrance Nolan finished the game with 15 carries and 28 yards, and Rashaud Caver finished with 14 yards on six carries. Matt Prebula had 10 tackles, while Denzel Collins had seven tackles for the Bears defense.

For Brantley, Lowery finished 6-of-9 passing for 154 yards and two touchdowns. Parker finished with 150 yards rushing on 15 carries with four touchdowns.