Athens may have only had six possessions in a fast-moving game, but the Golden Eagles made them count, scoring on five of them in a 31-17 win over Cullman that puts them one win away from hosting a first-round playoff game.

With both teams having powerful rushing attacks, long, time-consuming drives were the name of the game. Both teams had nearly identical total yardage, but the difference was Athens’ defense holding Cullman to three total points in three trips inside the 20-yard line in the first half.

Athens took the opening kickoff and quickly moved down the field, scoring on a 22-yard touchdown ru by Braden Gross less than 3 minutes into the game.

The Golden Eagles stretched their lead to 10-0 later in the quarter on a career-long 46-yard field goal by Kevin Jurado.

Cullman answered by driving inside the Athens 10-yard line, but as was the theme of the first half, the Golden Eagles defense bowed up and held Cullman to a 28-yard field goal by Brody Adams that made the score 10-3 early in the second quarter.

Athens answered right back with a touchdown on a 3-yard run by Jaelen Cates to take a 14-point lead. Cullman then missed two huge opportunities to get back into the game before halftime. The Bearcats drove inside Athens’ 10-yard line again, but lost a fumble at the 3. After forcing Athens to punt with 1:25 remaining in the half, Cullman once again drove inside the red zone, but ran out of time, and Adams’ 35-yard field goal attempt on the final play of the half was wide left.

Cullman did finally finish its first drove of the third quarter, as the Bearcats took the kickoff and embarked on a 14-play, 6:55 drive that ended on a 1-yard touchdown plunge by quarterback Max Dueland.

However, Athens answered with a long drive of its own. Jordan Scott had a key 15-yard run on third down to put Athens inside the Cullman 10, and then finished the drive with a 6-yard run two plays later to restore the two-touchdown lead.

After forcing a Cullman punt, Athens put the game away on its next drive. Cates scored his second touchdown of the game on a 2-yard run with 4:29 left.

Cates finished the game with 78 yards rushing and two scores. Scott led the Golden Eagles with 88 rushing yards and 63 passing yards.

Cullman scored a consolation touchdown with 42 seconds remaining on a 30-yard pass from Max Dueland to Jake Dueland, but it was the Golden Eagles who were left to celebrate.

The win puts Athens at 5-1 overall and 3-0 in Class 6A, Region 7. All the Golden Eagles need is a win over winless Columbia next week to wrap up second place in the region and the first-round home playoff game that comes with it. Athens hasn’t hosted a first-round playoff game since 2006.

Cullman dropped to 3-4 overall and 2-1 in region play with the loss. The Bearcats will play at Muscle Shoals next Friday.