BIRMINGHAM &045; Thursday night, Sweet Water High School won their third state championship in four years against Talladega County Central in a fashion reminiscent to a heavy weight prizefighter facing an inferior opponent.

The Bulldogs came out of the gate timidly, feeling out their opponent and scoring no substantial early blows. Once the chinks in the armor were identified, the ‘Dogs went for the throat and ended it &045; setting or tying five records on the way to the 42-7 victory.

On the way to the win Sweet Water: set a Super 6 record for wins with three, the 1A state record for state championships with seven, tied Super 6 records for interceptions in a game with three, rushing touchdowns with Anthony Landrum’s three and yards allowed with 108. But the group didn’t start out hot despite help from the Tigers.

In the first quarter the Tigers had negative 2 yards to Sweet Water’s 63, but were staked with bad field position as Bulldog punts pinned them behind their own 10-yardline on both possession of the quarter. This field position directly resulted in the first scoring of the game when a fumble by Talladega’s Robert Reynolds was covered by Sweet Water’s Johnny Lockett.

On their next possession, without their back to the end zone, Talladega found offensive stride and mounted a three-play, 69-yard drive topped off by a screen pass to Reginald Virges who took it yard from 30 yards out. Sweet Water was done feeling out the Tigers and added two more touchdowns in the form of a 17-yard Landrum run and 18-yard throw and catch from Drew Luker to Heath Hill.

On their first drive, the ‘Dogs ground out the clock on a 15-play, 71-yard drive that ate up 7:05 minutes and was topped by a 1-yard Landrum run. Landrum again scored off a 1-yard trot with a second left in the quarter. The final score of the game came from Lockett, this time on offense, in the form of a 38-yard jaunt.

Sweet Water’s dominant defense was the cornerstone for the group in the game, while Landrum was the offensive workhorse with 212 yards off 31 carries and three touchdowns. Landrum’s performance earned him his third Super 6 MVP award.