ROBERTSDALE, Alabama — The Robertsdale Golden Bears fought valiantly but fell to 1-7 (1-5 in 6A Region 2) to the McGill-Toolen Yellow Jackets (8-0, 6-0) 23-7 Friday night at J.D. Sellars Stadium in Robertsdale.

The Golden Bears held the game close through nearly three periods of play before two quick scores, one at the end of the third quarter and one to begin the fourth, broke the game open for the Yellow Jackets.

McGill-Toolen drove 79 yards in nine plays on its opening drive to take a 7-0 lead in the contest, but missed opportunities by both teams would keep the score close.

Two possessions later, the Golden Bears would drive from their own 35-yard-line down to the McGill 20, using a 19-yard run by quarterback Hunter Vaughn, then converted a third-and-7 with a 26-yard pass from Vaughn to Chase Hadley to the Yellow Jacket 23.

But the drive would stall from there as runs by Clinton Hollings and Alphonso Stewart netted just four yards and a pass from Vaughn to Hadley lost yardage, bringing up fourth-and-7 at the McGill 20. Vaughn's pass fell incomplete from there to give the ball back to the Yellow Jackets.

McGill drove from there down to the Golden Bear 9-yard-line, but after a penalty pushed the ball all the way back to the 25, and two plays later, the Yellow Jackets lined up for a 35-yard fieldgoal. The attempt would go wide of the uprights, leaving the score at 7-0 with 7:34 left in the second period.

On its next possession, the Golden Bears had a 25-yard pass from Vaughn to Hadley called back by offsetting penalties and were forced to punt on fourth-and-7 from their own 23.

But three plays later it looked as if Robertsdale was about to tie the score when Hadley picked up a Yellow Jacket fumble and raced down the sidelines into the endzone.

But again a yellow piece of cloth on the field plagued the Golden Bears as the play was called back to the McGill-Toolen 26-yard line.

The Bears converted a fourth-and-14 on a pass interferance call from Vaughn to Stewart and the Golden Bears gained another first down to the Yellow Jacket 4 with a five-yard hookup between Vaughn and Hadley and a six-yard run by Hollings.

Vaughn then attempted to run for paydirt, sacrificing his body on an acrobatic dive toward the endzone, but was stopped at the McGill 2-yard line. On the next play, the Bears fumbled the ball back to the 12 and two plays later, Chandler Cordova missed a 30-yard fieldgoal attempt with 39.8 seconds to go in the half.

The Yellow Jackets took over on their own 20 and three quick strikes took the ball to the Golden Bear 21, where McGill lined up for a 38-yard attempt with just 0.1 seconds left on the first-half clock. But the attempt did not go through the uprights, leaving the score at 7-0 at halftime.

Both teams traded possessions without a score to start the second half before McGill-Toolen broke the game open near the end of the third quarter, taking the punt at their own 35 and returning it into Bear territory at the 48.

McGill took eight plays to score from there, capped by a 2-yard run by Jeffrey Stanley. Thomas Hanlin's extra point made the score 14-0 with 3:33 left in the third period.

The Yellow Jackets then recovered an onside kick and drove 50 yards in 10 plays. Stanley garnered his second touchdown of teh game with an eight yard run, but the Yellow Jackets fumbled the extra point attempt leaving the score at 20-0 with 11:21 remaining in the contest.

Robertsdale came right back, driving 67 yards in 13 plays, converting two fourth downs and a third down along the way, and scored on a seven-yard pass from Vaughn to Josh Laird. Cordova chipped in the extra-point to cut the lead to 20-7 with 7:08 left in the contest.

McGill would add three more points on Hanlin's 30-yard fieldgoal with 2:33 remaining, then intercepted Vaughn in the endzone to squelch one final scoring attempt by the Bears.

Vaughn was 16 of 29 passing in the contest for 145 yards, but the Bears were held to just 44 yards rushing on 36 attempts.

The Yellow Jackets, meanwhile, piled up 321 yards of total offense, including 196 on the ground with 38 rushes. Stanley ran 107 yards on 25 carries with two touchdowns. Quarterback Jason Smith added 70 yards on eight carries, including a 32-yard touchdown run in the first half. Smith was 14 of 17 passing for 125 yards. Carl Lee caught eight passes for 101 yards.

Robertsdale will attempt to salvage the 2011 season with a pair of games on the road, traveling first to take on Baldwin County, then to Faith Academy (1-7, 1-4 in 5A Region 1) to close out the season. McGill will take on the Daphne Trojans for the 6A Region 2 title Friday night at home.