Sweet Water doomed by late TRM touchdown
BREWTON — Sweet Water watched as T.R. Miller scored with 17 seconds remaining in the game on its way to a 28-27 road loss Friday night.
The Bulldogs (8-2) held a 14-7 lead at half and carried that advantage into the fourth quarter before the Class 3A Tigers (8-2) found their offensive rhythm.
“Our kids played hard. We controlled the football. We were up 14-7 going into the fourth quarter and actually lost two two-touchdown leads in the fourth quarter and got beat,” Sweet Water head coach Stacy Luker said. “They got to rolling offensively and we just couldn’t stop them I guess.”
T.R. Miller scored on a 35-yard touchdown pass on its opening drive to go up 7-0. Sweet Water answered with a methodical march that milked more than eight minutes off the clock and culminated with a Jakoby Aldridge scoring run with 46 seconds left in the quarter.
The Bulldogs’ second touchdown came in similar fashion as Sweet Water worked its way down the field on a 13-play drive that ended when Deion Waters scored on a one-yard run with 25 seconds to go in the half.
The Bulldogs extended the advantage with another 13-play possession that ended in the fourth quarter when Waters found the end zone on a 26-yard run.
Miller responded when it hit paydirt on a three-yard run with 6:43 left to cut the deficit to 21-14.
Sweet Water scored on the first play of the ensuing possession when Aldridge went 66 yards to up the lead again. The missed extra point kick left the score at 27-14.
Miller then found daylight on a 49-yard run to cut the advantage to 27-21.
After Sweet Water turned the ball over on downs with 2:30 left in the game, T.R. Miller worked its way down the field on a game-winning drive that ended with a seven-yard touchdown pass.
“We had to get into a fight tonight. I think we’ll learn a lot from the fourth quarter. We might have relaxed a little bit, but they had a lot to do with the way the game went in the fourth quarter,” Luker said. “I thought our kids played hard. I thought we played tough. I thought we played until the end. They’ve got a great team. They were not going anywhere. They never quit playing and we didn’t. It was a great atmosphere. I don’t like the outcome right now, but it was good to be a part of.”
Sweet Water ran 70 offensive plays as compared to only 34 by T.R. Miller. The Bulldogs rushed for 409 yards in the contest. Waters finished with 201 yards on 24 carries. Aldridge had 168 yards on 21 carries.
Sweet Water, the Class 2A, Region 1 champion, will host Samson next week in the first round of the AHSAA state playoffs.