Undefeated Elba bumps Sweet Water from playoffs

By Jeremy Sellers

With game time temperatures dropping into the mid-to-low 30s, Sweet Water hit the road for a second-round playoff contest against the unbeaten Elba Tigers. The Bulldogs came out on the short end of a 42-20 final.

Elba started the scoring early when Stefan Caldwell, who led the Tigers with 141 yards on the night, caught a nine-yard pass for a touchdown. The two-point conversion attempt failed, leaving the score at 6-0 at the 5:47 mark in the first quarter.

The Tigers scored again with 3:12 remaining in the first quarter, but the Bulldogs were able to answer back early in the second quarter. Eric Jenkins got the ‘Dawgs on the board at the 10:08 mark in the second quarter on a six-yard touchdown run. Jonah Smith tacked on the extra point to cut the Elba lead to 12-7.

The Tigers would strike again on their next two drives, sending the score to 26-7 with 1:59 left on the clock before halftime.

Sweet Water would get a huge score just before halftime with 5.8 seconds left on the clock. Xavier McIntosh found Will Huckabee in the end zone for a successful halfback pass and touchdown of 35 yards. The extra point attempt was blocked, leaving the score at 26-13 in favor of Elba at halftime.

The Bulldogs received the ball coming out of the locker room in the second half, and put together a successful six-play drive that was capped by a four-yard touchdown run at the hands of Jenkins. Smith added his second extra point of the night to cut Elba’s lead down to 26-20 at the 9:25 mark of the third quarter.

Elba, however, would add another score late in the third quarter and one more early in the fourth quarter to send the score to 42-20 and secure the Tigers a trip to the quarterfinals against G.W. Long.

Sweet Water, which failed to reach the third round for the first time since 2005, finished the season with an 8-4 record overall and a 6-1 record in 2A Region 1 play.