FULTONDALE — Andrew Zow was a record-setting quarterback for the Alabama Crimson Tide, and now the new head coach at Montevallo High.

ArDarius "D" Stewart is the quarterback, free safety and kick returner for Fultondale High, and unless there is a major change in plans, will be playing for Alabama next season.

And on Thursday night, the future of the Tide prevailed over the past.

Stewart threw three touchdown passes and ran for two more scores, amassing 281 yards of total offense as the second-ranked Wildcats demolished Zow’s Bulldogs 64-28 in the season opener for both teams.

For all the nervousness of Cats coach Keith Register before the game, with all the pre-season hype and the Super 6 expectations, things calmed down quickly as Stewart took control of the game from the outset.

On the opening drive, he and running back Dante Stanley ran the ball into Montevallo territory, then Stewart went to the air three times, connecting twice. The second was a touchdown pass over the top to his younger brother, Jared, who jumped to grab the toss over tight coverage just under the goalposts for a 37-yard play.

Stewart the elder brought the home crowd to its feet again on the Wildcats’ next drive, after a pass to 6-foot-3 tight end Blake Reno put the ball down to the visitors’ 27. A false-start flag backed Stewart up to the 32, but he took the ball and dashed down the left sideline, stretching the ball just past the pylon for the score.

Stewart struck again on the first play of the second quarter, as he exploded on a 65-yard dash down the left sideline.

He then finished off his night with two scoring strikes to Kris Lewis — one on a 10-yard pass midway through the second quarter, and another on a 46-yard heave that found Lewis just past the pylon on the opening drive of the second half.

All in all, Stewart gained 151 yards rushing on just six carries, and was 7-for-10 passing for 130 yards — and he was held out for part of the second quarter and most of the second half.

And Register was a lot less nervous.

“We played well. We hit really hard, and we got after it,” he said. “We made to penalties, which is something we have to work on, but that’s because we coach them to that fine line, and it hurts us sometimes when you get things called back.”

Register was particularly happy with Stewart’s passing game.

“We’re working hard on that. Last year [Deundrea] Marshall was our bell cow, but now we’ve got guys like Blake Reno and Kris Lewis who did really well catching the ball,” Register said.

Stanley finished the night with a pair of touchdowns: a 2-yard charge in the opening period, and a 36-yard scramble in the third quarter in which he broke no less than four tackles. He ran for 116 yards on nine carries.

Tommy Usher also scored on a 12-yard run in the third, after Fultondale’s Ian Tinsley recovered a fumble on the kickoff after Stanley’s second score. Khyree Robinson capped off the Wildcat scoring with a 6-yard run, coming right after an interception by Sherrod Brown late in the fourth quarter.

Julan Hardy tallied 11 tackles, all in the first half.

Place kicker Enrique Aguilar had a good night, with three kickoffs going into the endzone for touchbacks, plus 3-for-4 on extra points in the first half. He missed a 28-yard field goal try late in the game.

Fultondale finished with 533 yards total offense, with a whopping 398 yards on the ground.

Down 56-0, Montevallo finally got on the scoreboard late in the third quarter on a 7-yard run by Quandarius Jackson. Ronezz Stevens and Daymon Smith also ran for Bulldog fourth-quarter touchdowns, and they added a safety when the ball was snapped over Wildcat punter Yareli Harrera’s head and over the end line.

The 64 points was not a Fultondale record for most points in a game — they’ve scored 70 twice, most recently last year against Cold Springs.

So for at least the first week, the great expectations didn’t seem to faze the Wildcats.

“They have a certain swagger, but they’re also having fun. I don’t know how they’re going to handle it [later] — I don’t know how I will — but so far it’s fun,” Register said.

Things were not quite as fun in the last minute, when a time out called by Zow with 47 seconds left resulted in flared tempers on the next play. Fultondale was hit with a pair of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties after Robinson ran for 23 yards to the Bulldog sideline. One Wildcat assistant coach was ejected. A first-half incident also resulted in Montevallo wide receiver Demetrouse Conwell being tossed.

The Wildcats go on the road to face Ohatchee on September 7.