Sweet Water (6-1, 5-0) defeated Washington County (6-1, 4-1) on Friday night by a score of 20-6. In a battle of the Bulldogs, the home team came out victorious.

The game matched up the No. 2 and No. 4 teams in the state in Class 2A, but after this game, those rankings will change.

The first quarter ended in a scoreless tie, but two minutes into the second quarter, Sweet Water’s Deion Waters scored on an 18-yard run to put the home team on top 7-0. The next score came with 1:20 to go in the half, when Jarvis Lewis scored on a 3-yard run to make it 14-0 Sweet Water going into halftime.

Sweet Water got the ball first in the second half, but went three-and-out. On the ensuing Washington County possession, they scored on a 5-yard run with 8:32 to go in the third. This would be the last time they saw the ball for a long time, as Sweet Water put together a 21-play touchdown drive that lasted 11 minutes and 57 seconds. The score came on an unusual play, though. Waters received the handoff at the 3-yard line and fumbled at the goal line, only for it to be recovered by quarterback Brett Davis in the endzone for a touchdown.

This made the score 20-6, and that held until the final whistle.

Sweet Water head coach Stacy Luker was happy with his team’s performance against a previously unbeaten Washington County team.

“We had to chew them up front,” he said, “and we were able to do that. They put a lot of pressure on us all night. The defense bent but didn’t break. I’m proud of our backs tonight; they ran hard all night.”

Luker added that he was happy that his team was able to finish some long drives in this game.

Although this win means a lot in the region, Luker said his team still is not satisfied.

“This was a big game,” he said, “but it is just one of the big ones on the way to the big one.”

Sweet Water hosts Choctaw County for homecoming next week.