After an hour and a half lightening delay, sloppy field conditions lead to sloppy play and – by Sweet Water standards -a sloppy 8-0 win over Fruitdale.

The Bulldogs (3-1, 2-0 Region) fumbled six times in the first 24 minutes, giving two of them away to the visiting Pirates. In fact, the first 22 minutes were an exchange of muddy ugliness between both teams in a relentless downpour.

With just more than a minute left in the first half, the Bulldogs mounted their first drive of the game and logged their first first down.

Thirty seconds later, they notched their second and just 5 seconds before halftime, Brett Davis crashed into the endzone from two yards out to give the Bulldogs their first score and the 6-0 lead.

Sweet Water managed only 46 yards total offense – all on the ground – in the first half but the Bulldog defense held the Pirate offense to only 20.

Muddy conditions and fumble-itus contributed to another scoreless quarter in the third and Sweet Water clung to a 6-0 lead going into the final 12 minutes.

The Sweet Water defense forced Fruitdale to punt on its first possession of the fourth quarter and the Bulldogs took over with 6 minutes left in the game on the Fruitdale 35.

Johnny Lockett took the next handoff up the middle for a 10 yard gain, picking up the first first down of the second half for either team.

Facing third and 20 with three minutes left, Chris Landrum plucked what would have been a bad snap out of the air and launched an incomplete pass and elected to punt facing fourth and long.

Chris Barnes launched a punt and dropped on the Fruitdale 2-yardline, giving the Pirates 98 yards to go with hopes of tying the game.

On the next snap Sweet Water’s defense put two points on the board with a safety, pulling out to an 8-0 lead with just more than two minutes left to play.

Fruitdale took over on their own 45 with 1 minute left and gained 10 yards on the first play on a quarterback draw. The Pirates gained another 10 yards on a quick pass, but Ryan Preston pounced on a fumbled snap on the next play, sealing the 8-0 win.

The Bulldogs fumbled the ball 11 times on the night, losing two.

Sweet Water travels to J.F. Shields next Friday.