Andalusia built a big lead against Jackson in high school football action Friday and then held on for a 26-24 win.

The Bulldogs were on top 26-8 with less than 10 seconds remaining in the third quarter, but the Jackson Aggies refused to give up and mounted a comeback bid.

The Aggies' rally was halted by the Bulldog defense on a fourth-and-18 play with less than a minute left in regulation.

The Aggies called a passing play and Chase Glisson came up big for the Bulldogs tackling Patrick Taylor, after he hauled in a pass, to stop him short of first-down yardage. The tackle gave the ball to the Bulldogs via a turnover on downs.

Andalusia snapped the ball one time with quarterback C.T. Eldridge going to a knee to start the clock. The Aggies were out of timeouts and the final 30 seconds ticked off the clock for a 26-24 Bulldog win.

Andalusia Head Coach Tom Causey felt great after getting another region win.

"Our defense made a play at the end of the game when we really needed one," Causey said. "We got a win and our kids needed one.

"The win feels great," he added. "You have to give Jackson credit. They came back."

Overall, Causey saw positives on both sides of the ball.

"Our offense moved the ball down the field in the second half, but we had a couple of turnovers. We have to eliminate those," he said.

He was pleased with the offensive line made up of Cole Sightler, William Mellown, Marcus Stacks, Kevin Wise and Rob Foreman.

"Our offensive line did a fairly good job tonight," Causey said. "They knocked them off the line."

Causey was also impressed by the defense. Foreman played very well on defense.

"Rob plays hard week in and week out and was fortunate enough to make some plays tonight," Causey said. "He is one of the leaders on this football team."

Some of the plays Foreman made set up touchdowns for the Bulldogs.

Jackson's second drive of the game ended when Foreman sacked Aggie quarterback Talmadge Rivers for an 11-yard loss on a third-and-nine play from the Andalusia 14-yard line.

The sack forced the Aggies to go for it on fourth down 25 yards away from the end zone. The play failed and the Bulldog offense ran out onto the field.

Two plays later, the Bulldogs had a 6-0 lead. Wesley Liles took a handoff from quarterback C.T. Eldridge and raced 83 yards for a score. The two-point attempt failed, but the Bulldogs were on top with 4:16 left in the first period.

Neal Patterson and Michael Dutton also made plays on defense for the Bulldogs. Patterson deflected a pass which was then picked off by Dutton and returned to the Aggies' 27-yard line. The Bulldog offense moved the ball to the two-yard line, but failed to score on fourth down turning the ball over.

Jackson, however, was stopped once again by Foreman when he recovered a fumble at the 17-yard line.

Four plays later, Patterson scored on a 63-yard running play after a spin move to break two tackles at the line of scrimmage. The two-point try failed, but Andalusia was on top 12-0 with 5:52 remaining in the half.

The score was 12-0 at the halftime intermission, but Andalusia added to its lead quick in the second half.

On the second play from scrimmage, Liles scored his second touchdown of the game on a 62-yard run. The two-point play was good when Eldridge hit Patterson on a pass play for a 20-0 lead.

Jackson scored later in the third quarter to make the score 20-8.

Andalusia added a score with 5.9 seconds left in the third when Liles scored his third TD of the game on a 7-yard run for a 26-8 lead.

Jackson answered with an 80-yard touchdown run by Tariq Ridgeway on the final play of the fourth quarter. Lemuel Jackson added the two-point conversion and the Aggies had trimmed Andalusia's lead to 26-16.

Jackson scored again with 4:12 left in the game on a 13-play drive set up by Adrian Jackson when he recovered an Andalusia fumble. Lemuel Jackson scored on a two-yard run. He also converted the two-point play to make the score 26-24.

Andalusia recovered the onside kick, but turned the ball over on a fumbled pitch.

The Bulldogs defense then stopped Jackson.

Andalusia senior linebacker Zach Smith was injured in the first quarter. He left the game in an ambulance. The injury was believed to be a leg injury and possibly a broken bone or torn muscle.