Sweet Water scores in closing minutes to move to state title game

(Photo by Johnny Autery)
With 3:31 to play, Sasha Smith celebrates the go-ahead touchdown catch that proved to be the game winner.

Sweet Water is headed back to the Class 1A state championship for the first time since 2010 after beating Wadley 27-21 in a wild one Friday night. The teams combined for 21 points in the fourth quarter that saw three lead changes.

(Photo by Johnny Autery)
Trent Sams pins the ball against his helmet to help secure a touchdown catch in the first half against Wadley.

Sweet Water trailed 14-13 to open the frame with Wadley threatening again. With 10:38 to go in the game, Wadley ran the ball to the Sweet Water 29 before Shamar Lewis scooped a fumble and returned it 71 yards for a touchdown and the 19-14 lead.

Undaunted, Wadley fired right back as Trevor Cameron ran 18 yards for a touchdown and the 21-19 lead. The turning point for the Bulldogs came when Jonah Smith hit his younger brother Sasha for a 27-yard touchdown pass on a throw that saw the Sweet Water receiver go over the top and the take the ball away from a Wadley defensive back. Lewis punched in the conversion run for the 27-21 advantage with 3:31 to play.

Wadley opened the scoring with 8:20 left in the first quarter as Jamichael Angel scored from a yard out. The Bulldogs needed only 61 seconds to tie it when Jonah Smith hit Braylone Kidd for a 78-yard touchdown strike.

(Photo by Johnny Autery)
Sweet Water quarterback Jonah Smith threw for 240 yards and three touchdowns in the Bulldogs’ semifinal win over Wadley.

“He did great tonight. He made some big throws when he had to,” Sweet Water head coach Pat Thompson said of his quarterback. “Of course our receivers made some great catches.”

Sweet Water took the lead with 1:25 left in the opening half as Jonah Smith found Trent Sams for a 36-yard touchdown and the 13-7 advantage. The lead was short-lived as Wadley’s Connor Fordham hit Jonathan Poole for a 44-yard scoring pass and the 14-13 lead.

The final marks the second time in as many seasons that the Bulldogs have ended Wadley’s season. Sweet Water won the second round meeting between the two schools 21-20 in 2016.

Friday’s game saw a feisty Wadley defense commit to limiting the Sweet Water ground game. SWHS managed 148 yards on 38 carries. Wadley countered with 158 yards on 38 carries.

“They’re linebackers were very active. We couldn’t get to their linebackers to block them enough. They did a few things that gave us some trouble, but our passes were there,” Thompson said. “There were nine definitely in the box and the 10th player was sitting six or eight yards over the top of our tight end. They were going to make us throw to beat them. They had seen us run over the last couple of weeks and do what we do.”

Sweet Water found its greatest offensive success in the passing game. Jonah Smith completed 11 of 18 passes for 240 yards and three touchdowns.

Sweet Water advances to the Class 1A state championship Thursday at 3 p.m. at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa where it will play Pickens County.