Sweetwater wins 1A title, Landrum named MVP

Although the game got off to a slow start, once Sweetwater started scoring it didn't slow down.

The Bulldogs defeated R.A. Hubbard 36-0 and in turn won the AHSAA 1A state championship. It marks the fourth time this decade that Sweetwater has earned the title and ninth time in school history.

"It's a great accomplishment," said Sweetwater head coach Stacy Luker. "When you throw in what you do in the summer and the grind it takes to get here. Twenty-one weeks is what we tell our kids. We basically give them a couple of weeks off at the end of June and then we commit to 21 weeks to get to this point right here.

"The 2004 and 2006 titles were sweet and we really had a good team in 2005, but this one ranks right up there because of the disappointment of last year (lost 19-17 to Loachapoka in third round of playoffs). We have a special group of seniors - the whole team is special."

Auburn commit Chris Landrum, Sweetwater's running back and starting linebacker, was named championship MVP for his performance that included an 8-yard touchdown run and seven total tackles with a fumble recovery.

Landrum was the fourth Bulldog to reach the end zone during the Thursday afternoon game at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Other scores included quarterback Brett Davis' 1-yard run, linebacker Kyle Brown's fumble recovery in the end zone, running back Michael Thompson's 6-yard run, a safety and RB/DB Caderius Ward's 52-yard kickoff return.

The shutout served up by Sweetwater's defense was the third of this year's playoffs. Sweetwater also dished out four goose eggs during the regular season.

The Bulldogs didn't allow the Chiefs a fourth-down conversion in four attempts and allowed just four third-down conversions of nine attempts.

R.A. Hubbard was held to 140 yards of total offense, 43 yards of which came through the air. Sweetwater's defense had been averaging an allowance of 10.1 points per game this season.

The Bulldogs' racked up 304 yards of offense with 275 of those yards coming from the ground game.

Sweetwater's leading rusher was sophomore Deon Waters with his 99 net yards off 15 carries. Junior Terrence Sewell added 82 yards off 11 carries and Thompson, a junior, finished the game with 49 yards off 12 attempts.