The Sweet Water Bulldogs are state bound after defeating Wadley, 27-21 in Friday night’s semi-final contest.

With the victory, Sweet Water will take on Pickens County for the 1A state title on Thursday, Dec. 7 at Bryant Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa with kickoff set for 3 p.m.

Friday’s semi-final was a back-and-forth affair, as each team held the lead at different points in the game.

After a scoreless first quarter, Wadley opened up the scoring in the first quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run to make the score 7-0.

Just about a minute later, Sweet Water ties the game when Jonah Smith hit Braylone Kidd for a big 78-yard touchdown pass.

With just over a minute to go in the half, Sweet Water took the lead when Smith found Trent Sams for a 36-yard touchdown. The point-after was no good.

But, Wadley wasn’t finished with the first half and with 35 seconds to go, a 44-yard touchdown pass and extra point gave them the 14-13 going into the locker room.

The third quarter saw neither team score.

Then, in the fourth, Wadley would fumble the ball away to Sweet Water playmaker Shamar Lewis who would score to give the Bulldogs a 19-14 edge with 10:38 to go.

Wadley came right back and would retake the lead, 21-19 on an 18-yard touchodwn run.

But, it was Sweet Water who would score last and secure the victory when Smith completed a 27-yard pass to Sasha Smith who took the ball into the endzone. The Bulldogs went to Lewis on a successful two-point conversion play, to take the 27-21 lead with 3:31 to go.

Sweet Water outgained Wadley in the contest with 388 total yards to 307. The Bulldogs had 240 yards passing and 148 rushing. Smith finished the game going 11-of-18 for 240 yards and three touchdowns.

Jacorey Brown led the rushing attack with 59 yards while Lewis finished with 57.

Kidd had one catch for 78 yards and Smith had four catches for 67 yards.

(This article originally appeared in the Saturday, December 2 edition of the Demopolis Times.)