L.D. BRUCE FIELD — It was a long drive back to Marion County Friday night for players and fans from Bear Creek. The Phillips Bears scored early but not often, eventually falling 54-20 to the Cedar Bluff Tigers in the opening round of the Class 1A state playoffs.

Bears quarterback Rodney Camp hooked up with receiver Jonathan Crumpton on the third play of the game for a 69-yard scoring pass to give the visitors a 6-0 lead.

The Tigers marched right back, driving from their own 29-yard line in five plays. Running back D’Shawn Fife covered the last two yards with 8:55 remaining in the first quarter. Curtis Abernathy’s PAT gave the home team a lead it would not relinquish for the rest of what proved to be a long night of mostly football.

The game didn’t end until around 10:15 p.m. and featured a multitude of penalties that had officials huddling and pointing throughout the night. At one point in the second half, a Phillips player was ejected for fighting. That incident may have contributed to an altercation during the postgame gathering at midfield.

During the postgame incident, coaches for both teams were involved in separating players and breaking up scuffles. Several punches were thrown before the Tigers headed to the locker room and the Phillips players gathered on their sideline.

The offices of the AHSAA in Montgomery closed Nov. 11 for Veterans Day. Repercussions from the altercation, if there are any, presumably will be announced later in the week. Cedar Bluff head coach Jonathan McWhorter declined to comment other that to say the incident was "unfortunate" and he and his staff do not condone fighting.

After Cedar Bluff’s go-ahead score, Camp dropped back to pass on the third play from scrimmage after the kickoff. But Terrance Scales stepped in front of the pass at the Bears’ 37-yard line. The Tigers tallied three interceptions on the night.

Cedar Bluff quarterback Levi Mintz wasted no time extending his team’s lead, finding fellow senior DeAngelo Hardy on a crossing route on the next play. After Abernathy nailed the PAT, the Tigers led 14-6 with 8:14 left in the first.

For the night, Mintz completed 14 passes for 258 yards and four touchdowns.

Phillips wasn’t ready to quit just yet, though. The Bears put together a 16-play drive that began at their own 36 and progressed into the red zone. But on 4th-and-8 from the Tigers’ 15-yard line, Camp’s pass into the corner of the end zone fell incomplete.

Soon after taking over possession, Mintz found sophomore Devante Dixon for 43 yards to move the Tigers into Bear territory. Two players later, Fife blasted into the end zone from 12 yards out to give the Tigers a 21-6 led with just over a minute remaining in the first quarter.

Phillips fumbled the ball away three plays later. Blake Terry recovered the ball at the Bears’ 39-yard line.

On the next drive, Cedar Bluff mostly stuck to the ground, covering 61 yards in 10 plays.

Abernathy and Fife took turns carrying before Mintz scored from the 1 on a quarterback sneak. Early in the second quarter, the Tigers’ lead grew to 28-6 after Abernathy’s PAT.

Dalton Cosby intercepted Camp’s next pass attempt, and Cedar Bluff once again had possession deep on their opponent’s end of the field. Mintz’s pass to Abernathy with 7 minutes left in the half made the score 34-6.

After forcing a Bears punt the Tigers again drove down the field. Mintz completed four passes for 26 yards, including one to Rickey Pendley from 10 yards out to increase the lead to 41-6 with 3:41 to go in the half.

Cedar Bluff had one more chance to score before the break. But Abernathy’s 33-yard field goal attempt with 14 second remaining was blocked.

After a failed onside kick attempt to begin the second half, the Bears’ frustration began to show. Camp threw four incompletions in five tries on the Bears’ next drive. A scuffle broke out on the field after the Tigers regained possession. One Phillips player was ejected, apparently for throwing a punch. The drive ended with another scoring pass from Mintz to Dixon and a 47-6 lead late in the third.

Phillips added a pair of late scores, including another long pass from Camp to Crumpton.

No. 5-ranked Cedar Bluff, which has never lost an opening-round home playoff game, hosts Pickens County Friday in round two. Pickens County won 63-0 on Friday.

"Their team is going to be really athletic," McWhorter said "It ought to be a great matchup for us next week."