MONTGOMERY &8212; Sweet Water High School&8217;s game against St. Jude Christian on the road put perspiration on the heads of Bulldogs fans for one of the few times this year, or at least the first half of the team&8217;s 24th straight win did.

The &8217;Dogs had trouble holding onto the ball to be more specific. The group fumbled the ball six times and only covered half, giving the Pirates the ball and field position three times.

But the defense managed to hold on and Luker&8217;s group managed to hold on to a lead, no matter the margin, to finish off the half. After a trip to the locker room, and surely some words from Luker on ball protection, the Bulldogs came out the second half a different team.

The Bulldogs scored two to St. Jude&8217;s one in the third and put up 33 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to wrap up the game 52-12.

Luker&8217;s offense, despite the fumbles (and St. Jude fumbled four and lost three), dominated the Pirates&8217; defense. The Bulldogs put up 364 rushing yards, mostly due to Anthony Landrum&8217;s 30 carries for 273 yards and five touchdowns, to the Pirates 123 on the ground. They also racked up 19 first downs to their opponent&8217;s 10.

St. Jude won the air battle in yardage, going 11 of 23 for 161 to Sweet Water&8217;s two of four for 32, but also threw two picks to the Bulldog&8217;s one. Both of the Sweet Water completions were off of tosses from Drew Luker to Butch Williams, who also had four carries for 113 yards and a touchdown.

The Bulldogs move to the third round of the playoff next week where they will face Wadley High School at home on Friday.