DECATUR — It was simply a matter of time before the heavy rain was going to arrive. But when it did, the Cullman Bearcats were unphased.

Playing in wet, sloppy conditions has become somewhat of a regular occurrence this season.

Junior quarterback Dylan Skipper threw a pair of touchdown passes to both Riley Stewart and Drew Forrest in the first half, and Cullman completed an undefeated regular season with a 43-23 victory over Austin Friday night at Ogle Stadium.

Bearcats coach Mark Britton said finishing the regular season undefeated was the primary objective for his senior class.

“Cullman High School has been here 101 years and had 92 football seasons, and this is the only group we’ve ever had that can say they had two perfect seasons at 10-0,” said Britton, who led the Bearcats to a perfect regular season in 2007. “My hat’s off to this group. They are an incredible group. They work hard despite the condition, and they always answer the bell.”

The Bearcats took a 13-0 lead in the first quarter when Skipper and Stewart connected on a pair of 25-yard touchdown passes. Austin responded with a long touchdown drive, and took a 14-13 lead when Jacoby Moody returned a fumble 30 yards to the end zone with 11:40 left in the second quarter.

As the rain grew heavier, Cullman’s passing game became more effective. Forrest capped an eight-play, 80-yard drive with a 17-yard touchdown reception to retake the lead.

Following a short punt by the Black Bears, Cullman needed only two plays to score again, this time on a 26-yard pass from Skipper to Forrest.

Sophomore Luke Bright blocked a punt that rolled out the end zone for a safety with 4:58 left before halftime, and less than a minute later, Forrest took a shovel pass from Connor Adams and raced 37 yards for a touchdown.

Skipper finished the half 9-of-14 passing for 165 yards and four touchdowns. Forrest caught four passes for 89 yards, while Stewart had three catches for 51 yards and Adams caught two passes for 55 yards.

“Early in the game we knew the weather was going to start getting bad late so we wanted to come out firing in the first quarter,” Forrest said. “I don’t know if they were ready for that. With the field conditions, everybody was thinking we would run the ball, so they put a bunch of guys up in the box and we were able to throw it.”

Dropped passes by open receivers prevented the Black Bears from moving the ball through the air in the first half, and running the ball proved to be even more difficult.

Cullman’s defense held Austin to minus-28 yards rushing on 14 first-half carries. Eleven of those rushing attempts resulted in a loss or no gain.

“Our defensive front and senior linebackers are really strong,” Britton said. “They stayed with the plan. The footing was tough out there, and when you get one or two backers on the guy, it ‘s had to break a tackle.”

Austin finished the game with a net total of 11 yards rushing on 21 carries thanks to a 30-yard touchdown run by quarterback Ethan Netherton in the third quarter.

The Black Bears only gained 78 yards passing, completing 4 of 17 attempts with one interception by junior defensive back Tyler Brown.

Charles Richards handled most of the rushing duties for the Bearcats in the second half, finishing with 67 yards on 18 carries. His 1-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter was Cullman’s final score of the night. Adams had 58 yards on 10 carries in the first half.

Cullman will host Wenonah in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs next Friday.

Wenonah won its season finale Thursday night when Tarrant had to forfeit the game because of a brawl that broke out in the second quarter.