Lewis, Thompson take WAW top football honors (WAW All-County Team)

December 28, 2017December 29, 2017 Jeremy D. Smith AHSAA, Alabama, all-county, Demopolis, Demopolis High Schoo, DHS, Dixons Mills, football, LHS, Linden, Linden High School, Marengo High School, MHS, prep sports, Sweet Water, Sweet Water High School, SWHS, WAW

12-7-17 — Tuscaloosa, Ala. — Sweet Water’s Shamar Lewis runs in the open field during the Bulldogs’ AHSAA Class 1A State Championship win over the Pickens County Tornadoes.

An action-packed, fun-filled high school football season in Marengo County culminated with Sweet Water hoisting the Class 1A state championship trophy less than two weeks after it snapped Maplesville’s 34-game win streak.

As Sweet Water got within sniffing distance of the state crown, Shamar Lewis made an unquestionable impact on both sides of the ball. After returning a fumble for touchdown in the semi-finals, Lewis fielded another fortuitous bounce in the Super 7 and sprinted into Bulldog lore for a game-defining touchdown. During the postgame press conference, head coach Pat Thompson said the ball bounced right into the hands of his team’s best football player. Lewis showed himself to be one of the better players in the state, earning distinction as a First Team All-State player from the ASWA as well as Super 7 Class 1A Most Valuable Player honors.

A terror on offense and defense, Lewis ran for 1,205 yards and 12 touchdowns on 129 carries for an eye-popping average of 9.34 yards per rush. He also caught six passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns. Lewis’s defensive acumen also helped to separate him from his peers. As a Bulldog linebacker, he racked up 79 solo tackles and 15 assists as well as 32 tackles for loss, two fumbles returned for touchdown, two interceptions including one returned for touchdown, three sacks and five pass break-ups. All of that combined is enough to earn Lewis distinction as the West Alabama Watchman Football Player of the Year for 2017.

Coach of the Year honors deservedly fall to Pat Thompson, who gained his first state title as Sweet Water top Dawg. After a season-opening loss to Thomasville, the Bulldogs rattled off a run of 13 straight wins to re-assert themselves as the top program in Class 1A. Thompson is now 35-14 in his career as a head coach.

The Bulldogs’ return to prominence was the perfect capper to a year that saw two other county teams make significant playoff runs and a fourth captivate the state’s social media imagination as it took Maplesville to a 28-28 tie in the fourth quarter before succumbing to defeat.

Linden’s run was short-lived but the squad boasts three representatives on the 2017 West Alabama Watchman All-County Team after a stellar campaign.

The remainder of the team is filled out by players from Demopolis, which lost in the Class 5A semifinals by a single point to eventual champion St. Paul’s, and several from Marengo after it made it to the quarterfinals and lost in a competitive game to Wadley. The 2017 West Alabama Watchman All-County Football Team appears below in its entirety.

QB – Andrew Patterson, Demopolis

RB – Antonio Besteder, Demopolis

RB – A.J. Jackson, Demopolis

RB – Alphonzo Lewis, Marengo

WR – Isaiah Scott, Linden

WR – Demetrius Davis, Demopolis

WR – Kevin Green, Linden

OL – Theron Gibson, Sweet Water

OL – Chris Williams, Demopolis

OL – Andrew Pickett, Marengo

OL – Willie Lewis, Sweet Water

OL – Justin Presswood, Linden