Andalusia (10-1) got on top of West Blocton early and the Bulldogs strolled through the first round of the AHSAA Class 4A playoffs with 48-0 thrashing of the Tigers Friday night in Andalusia.

“It’s great to get that monkey off our back,” Andalusia head coach Trent Taylor said. “We played a complete game, and to be honest, I would have been disappointed if we wouldn’t have come out and played like this with the way that we have practiced the past two weeks.”

West Blocton started with the ball on their own 19-yard line, and things quickly went south for the Tigers. Tiger quarterback Jake Vick fumbled the opening snap and Andalusia’s Trevor Parker fell on the ball at the West Blocton 15-yard line.

The Bulldog offense took over and went straight to work picking up 14 yards on the first play on a pass from Ethan Wilson to Derrick McQueen. Jamal Hourel capped off the drive one play later with a 1-yard touchdown run up the middle. Chase Hopkins split the uprights on the PAT to give Andalusia a 7-0 lead 26 seconds into the game.

Andalusia forced the Tigers to punt on the next drive, however, a roughing to punter call gave West Blocton new life. Four plays later, the Bulldog defense forced another punt, and this time Jaylon Washington came screaming from the right side and blocked the punt.

The Bulldogs took over on the Tigers’ 34-yard line, and Hourel barreled 26 yards to the end zone on the drive’s second play. Hopkins was again true on the extra point, and the Bulldogs were on top 14-0 with 6:46 left in the opening quarter.

Once again, the Bulldogs’ defense stepped up and forced a punt after a three-and-out. Demetrius Lane put heavy pressure on Vick on third down that led to an incomplete pass.

Andalusia took back over and two short plays later the Bulldogs had a three score lead. Wilson connected with B.J. Anderson for a 15-yard completion on the first play, and then McQueen took a pass from Wilson and torched the defense on his way to a 70-yard touchdown. Hopkins was again good on the extra point to give Andalusia a 21-0 lead with five minutes left in the first quarter.

West Blocton’s offense got going a little bit on the next drive picking up close to 60 yards on 13 plays before the Bulldogs stopped them on a fourth down attempt. On fourth-and-seven, Vick attempted a pass but KeShun Townsend batted the ball down at the line.

Andalusia’s offense continued to move the ball at will on the following drive, as they went 82 yards on six plays with a 22-yard touchdown from Hourel to cap the drive. Hourel also had a 17-yard rush on the drive’s first play. Andalusia got set up in Tiger territory when Wilson hit Jaden Brown for a 35-yard pass and catch. Hopkins’ extra point gave Andalusia a 28-0 lead with 8:16 left in the second quarter.

West Blocton’s offense once again showed glimpses of success, but found themselves again turning to ball over on downs.

Hourel got the Bulldogs going on the following drive, as he picked up 22 yards on the second play, 15 yards on the fifth play and capped the drive with a 9-yard touchdown run on the seventh play of the drive. With the Hopkins’ extra point, Andalusia was on top 35-0 at halftime.

The Bulldogs opened up the second half with rushes of 7, 8, 10 and 15 yards by senior running back James Montgomery. Wilson then finished off the drive with a 15-yard score to put Andalusia up 41-0. The extra point attempt from Hopkins just missed, but Bulldogs had the well in hand with 5:52 left in the third quarter.

Andalusia’s final score of the game came with 43 second left in the third quarter when Michael Landrum punched the rock in from 1-yard out. Landrum set up the touchdown with a 45-yard rush on the play before.

Hourel ended the night with eight carries for 119 yards and four touchdowns, which brings him to 1,976 yards and 29 touchdowns on the season.

“We have had such a good two weeks of practice, I would have been very disappointed if this wouldn’t have been the outcome,” Taylor said. “I’m so proud of the way we played. We were able to open some things up a little bit this week, and that is what we are going to have to continue to do to make a run in the playoffs. I challenged the play hard on every snap, and they did exactly that tonight. That’s one down and now it really starts speeding up at this point.”

The Bulldogs will be on the road next week to take on Dadeville in the second round of the Class 4A state playoffs. Dadeville advanced to the second round by upsetting Thomasville 54-53 in a double-overtime game on Thursday night.