After turning the ball over six times on the road last week, Montevallo was ready to return to Theron Fisher Stadium for a little home cooking.

Homecoming festivities began Thursday with the annual parade on Main Street and pep rally at the stadium, and were capped off with tailgating and a 48-20 victory Friday over Beulah.

But separate from the crowning of the homecoming queen, the Bulldogs’ biggest achievement of the night was eliminating turnovers.

“We laid it out there for the guys that we just couldn’t go 0-2 in the region. It’s not an option for us if we want to have a chance in the playoffs. It was a game we had to have,” Montevallo head coach Jim King said.

Junior quarterback Kevin Callender, who had four touchdowns, five picks and a fumble the previous week, was back to making wiser decisions from the pocket, finding the end zone twice by air and twice by ground against Beulah.

“The receivers helped him out a lot,” King said. “I did not do a real good job getting him prepared for his throws and his reads (last week).”

Callender racked up 111 yards passing while completing 7-of-9 attempts, and ran for another 178 yards on nine carries.

In addition to Callender’s offensive output, the Bulldogs found ways to score on all ends of the ball. Senior Dajuan Fulgham caught an 11-yard pass for the first touchdown of the game and later picked off a pass and returned it 30 yards for a score in the third quarter.

Brandon Lilly showed off his kick return ability by answering a second-quarter Beulah touchdown with a 62-yard kickoff return for six points. Lilly also caught a touchdown pass in the first quarter.

The Dawgs’ final score game in the fourth quarter on a 21-yard run by sophomore Chad Miller.

The win moves Montevallo (2-1) to 1-1 in Class 3A, Region 3 with B.B. Comer coming to town next week.

“Starting 0-1 (in the region) you’ve got no room for slip ups. We’ve already had our slip up right out of the gate. We’ve just got to win and get to 2-1 to get to a little bit of breathing room,” King said.