The difference in Sweet Water High School and Marengo High School could be seen long before Sweet Water shut out the Panthers 28-0 on Friday night.

In the middle of the third quarter, with Sweet Water facing a third-and-short, Bulldog head coach Stacy Luker called for the "heavy" to take the field. A group of five lineman &045; all a bit "heavier" than the current offensive line &045; took the field.

On the next play, Sweet Water running back Dominic Holt followed behind the "heavies" and picked up the first down.

Marengo High School had no such luxury last night. For that matter, they haven’t had the luxury all year. With less than a handful of substitutes, the Panthers had nowhere to turn when the starting 11 felt the first brush of fatigue.

The physical dominance of Sweet Water was evident in their very first possession of the game.

The Bulldogs took the opening kick and picked up five consecutive first downs. Holt had two different runs of 16 yards, and on second-and-goal from the Marengo five yard line, Holt rumbled over the middle of the Panthers’ defensive line to put Sweet Water ahead 6-0.

That drive lasted 7:36, and set the pace for the rest of the ball game.

Meanwhile, Marengo High could get nothing started, offensively. They had only one possession in the first quarter, going three-and-out.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Panthers picked up one first down, but on the next series of downs, they began moving backwards. On fourth-and-10, a bad snap led to a desperate run by the Marengo punter. He was tackled at his own 30 yard line.

Sweet Water took over the ball on downs, and on the next play, Holt dashed 30 yards for his second score of the game. He also added a two-point conversion to put the Bulldogs ahead 14-0.

With 6:11 left in the second quarter, Marengo High tried to go to the air to stop Sweet Water’s momentum. Facing a third-and-nine, Marengo quarterback Jarvis McCall lofted a pass down the middle of the field, and Sweet Water’s Juan Brothers picked off the pass.

Though the Bulldogs couldn’t capitalize on the turnover, they got the ball back one more time in the first half, with 53 second left.

From the Marengo 42 yard line, quarterback Deon Williams hit Patrick Gamble on a 25-yard pass, putting the Bulldogs at the Marengo 17 yard line. Then, after an incomplete pass, Williams lofted the ball into the right corner of the endzone and Brothers came down with the pass, putting Marengo up 20-0 at the end of the first half.

Sweet Water added one more touchdown in the fourth quarter. With 5:05 left, Holt barreled through the Marengo line for nine yards, putting the game out of reach for the Panthers.

On the night, Holt ran for 125 yards and three touchdowns. Gamble picked up 58 yards on the ground.

Holt also led the team on defense, recording 11 tackles. Both Brothers and Errol Thomas picked off Marengo passes for interceptions. On the season, the Bulldogs and intercepted 17 opponent passes.

For Marengo High, there wasn’t much offense to mention. McCall connected on four-of-eight passes for 112 yards. Derrian Dixon led the team with 38 yards rushing on eight carries. And Keldrick Bouler led the defense with 11 tackles.

Next week, Sweet Water hosts A.L. Johnson and Marengo High hosts Frisco City.