New Brockton falls in clash with Sweet Water

The New Brockton Gamecocks closed out the 2017 regular season with a frustrating 35-7 loss to the Class 1A’s No. 2-ranked Sweet Water Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first half and were never in danger against the Gamecocks.

“It was a very, very physical game,” New Brockton coach Justin Jones said. “It’s just the brand of football they play. Our kids knew that and we were ready for that.

“I was proud of our effort and I thought we tackled pretty well. It was a great learning experience against another Top 10 team for us.”

Sweet Water took its first lead 7-0 with 7:40 left in the opening period following a 2-yard touchdown run from Jacory Brown.

Sweet Water extended its lead to 14-0 with 5:19 left in the first quarter after Brown scored his second touchdown on a 9-yard run.

Sweet Water quarterback Jonah Smith extended the Bulldog lead to 21-0 on a 1-yard score with 11:44 left in the second quarter.

With 6:06 remaining in the first half, New Brockton finally got on the scoreboard when quarterback Caleb Griffin found receiver Jy’shan Nelson for a 13-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 21-7.

Unfortunately for the Gamecocks, that would be as close as they would come to catching up to the Bulldogs.

Sweet Water extended its lead back to 21 points on a 32-yard scoring run by running back Shamar Lewis with 4:33 left in the third quarter to go up 28-7.

Sweet Waters final score came with 8:40 remaining in the game on a 4-yard touchdown by Brown to make the final 35-7.

The Gamecocks were outgained 427 yards to 211 and the biggest difference being Sweet Water’s 315 yards on the ground, compared to New Brockton’s 98 yards rushing.

Despite the lopsided yardage difference, New Brockton had a number of opportunities in the red zone after forcing three Sweet Water turnovers but were unable to take advantage of those opportunities.

“We had some great opportunities that we just didn’t take advantage of,” Jones said. “We caused some turnovers and had some big stops on defense, but when you’re playing the No. 2 team in the state you have to capitalize on those situations, especially in the red zone.

“We had a chance to make it close in the second half and just didn’t get it done.”

Sweet Water’s Brown rushed for 108 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries to lead all rushers.

Dalton Adkison led the Gamecocks with 64 yards on 11 attempts, along with one tackle on defense.

Griffin completed 12-of-22 passes for 99 yards, one touchdown and an interception. Freshman Colton Marsh completed 1-of-3 passes for 14 yards. Nelson led the Gamecock receivers with 69 yards and a touchdown on a season-high six catches.

Jones said that the red zone miscues were the biggest factor in Friday’s defeat.

“It was just execution,” Jones said of the red zone woes. “I think that’s something we’ll keep working on and for us, when you play good football teams you have to be more consistent in the red zone.

“We’re going to make sure we put our kids in a good situation where we can be successful. Execution is a lot easier when the kids feel good about the situations they’re in.”

Defensively, Chase Cardwell recorded 15 tackles, while Jake Holloway added 11 tackles and a fumble recovery. Wyatt Grice also had 10 tackles and a quarterback pressure.