A 9-0 halftime lead was not enough for the Andalusia Bulldogs against the Hillcrest Jaguars on Friday.

The Jags rallied for 14 second-half points for a 14-9 win in a critical Class 4A, Region 1 contest.

The win improves the Jags' overall record to 5-2 on the season and 3-2 in region play. The loss drops Andalusia to 3-4 on the season and 2-3 in region play.

Hillcrest Head Coach Arlton Hudson said a change on the offensive side of the ball helped the Jags' move the ball against a strong Andalusia defense.

"It was a heck of a hard-fought football game, just like we both knew it would be," Hudson said.

He said when the Jags went to the shotgun in the second half it opened things up after "they stopped our run" in the first half.

Andalusia Head Coach Paul Woolley said an injury to senior Kevin Dohoney had an impact on the game.

"What hurt us was losing Dohoney," Wooley said. "It made us change a lot of people out. We are thin so we had to switch a lot of people at running back and linebacker.

"It hurt us on both sides of the ball," he added.

Dohoney suffered a knee injury on the second play of the game. He ripped off a 13-yard run and stayed down after being forced out of bounds at the Hillcrest 21-yard line.

Woolley said he had to give Hillcrest credit.

"They deserved to win tonight," he said.

He also said the Bulldogs got whipped.

"You can't put in the paper what I would say (about the game)," Woolley said. "You couldn't print it on that page.

"They whipped our tails in the second half" he added.

Andalusia started the game with a bang as Richard Justice raced 31 yards on the first offensive play of the game. He was one defender away from scoring a touchdown.

Dohoney was injured on the next play, but the Bulldogs marched down to the 13-yard line to set up a 29-yard field goal attempt.

Daniel Wall's kick was perfect and the Bulldogs had a 3-0 lead with 9:10 remaining in the opening quarter.

Andalusia added to its lead with 9:12 remaing in the second quarter when Justice scored on a 14-yard run. The PAT was no good after a mishandled snap by Josh Dutton, but the Bulldogs held a 9-0 lead.

Hillcrest began the second half on offense and marched down the field for a touchdown on a nine-play drive. Jamie Simpson scored the touchdown on a 29-yard pass play when quarterback Durrell Jackson hit him on a quick slant route.

The Jags went for two and converted to cut Andalusia's lead to 9-8.

Hillcrest took the lead with 9:15 remaining in the game when Jackson once again found Simpson on a pass play for a touchdown. The play covered 64 yards and gave Hillcrest a 14-9 lead. The two-point attempt failed.

Andalusia's offense had the ball just two more times punting it back to Hillcrest with 7:15 remaining in the game.

Andalusia's defense gave up one first down after punting the ball to the Jags and then held them.

A turnover on downs gave the ball back to the Andalusia offense with 3:49 remaining in the game at the Hillcrest 30-yard line.

On the first play from scrimmage, Andalusia quarterback C.T. Eldridge rolled out of the pocket and ran for a one-yard gain before the ball was knocked loose.

The Jags recovered the loose pigskin and managed to run out the clock to secure a 14-9 victory.