Lanett 33, Leroy 15
      TUSCALOOSA – Lanett High School overcame a 15-0 first-quarter deficit with 33 unanswered points Friday afternoon to beat Leroy 33-15 in the 2017 Super 7 Class 2A State football championship game  at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The championship was the first football title in school history and concluded a 15-0 season for Coach Christopher Story’s team – best in school history. The Panthers’ boys’ basketball team won the Class 2A state title the last two seasons.
      Leroy (12-3), coach by Jason Massey,  jumped out to a quick 15-0 lead  with two rushing touchdowns freshman running back Kelston Fikes by  in the first quarter covering 3 and 7 yards. The Bears marched 56 yards on 11 time-consuming plays on the first TD march and 52 yards on seven plays on the next one.  Leroy ‘s Daniel Waddill caught a pass from Jeb Rice for a two-point conversion after Fikes’ first TD and Trey Sullivan kicked the extra point after the second one.
    Lanett (15-0) cut the lead to 15-7 with four seconds left in the period when Terrion Truitt scooted 10 yards for the Panthers’ first touchdown. Rovilan Castro added the extra point.  Lanett tied the game with 2:34 left in the half when Ja’Won Howell scored on a dazzling 34-yard run. Truitt then scored on the two-point conversion to tie the game at 15-15 at intermission.
    The Panthers took the lead for good 21-15 with 3:27 remaining in the third period when quarterback Kristian Story, who was shaken up in the second quarter, returned to the game to direct an eight-play, 67-yard march that finished with his 10-yard pass to Braylon Harrington. Lanett pulled away in the fourth quarter with Truitt scoring on a 23 run with 4:21 left and 6-foot-7 senior receiver Anquaevious Pollard hauling in a 19-yard pass from Story for the final TD 85 seconds later.
    Story’s Panthers finished with 17 first downs, 187 yards rushing and 129 passing for 316 total yards. Lanett had 93 yards rushing and 44 passing for 137 total yards.
    Truitt finished with 90 yards rushing on 13 carries and caught one pass for 16 yards to earn MVP honors. Story rushed for 70 yards on 13 carries and was 11-of-19 passing for 129 yards and two TDs. Pollard had five catches for 66 yards.
    Freshman running back Kelston Fikes had a game-high 107 yards rushing on 27 carries and both Bears touchdowns. Leroy quarterback Nathan Taylor was 9-of-16 passing for 44 yards. Prinis Snow had two receptions for 16 yards and Daniel Waddill had one for 25 yards.
    Lanett’s Zion Lynch led the Panthers’ defense with 10 tackles.  Ja’Won Howell and Dterron Glaze also had eight each. Tifton Dobbs also had an interception. Leroy’s Dristin Weaver had 10 tackles and Brady Smith had nine to lead the Bears.
    The 2017 Super 7 State Championships conclude tonight with Wetumpka (13-1) facing Pinson Valley (14-0) in the 6A finals at 7 p.m. The game is being televised live by Raycom Media over its Raycom/AHSAA Network of affiliates and D-2 stations with WSFA TV 12 in Montgomery showing the contest on its main channel. The game is also being live video-streamed over the NFHS Network’s subscriber-based network and on You Tube. For more TV information, go to www.pathtotheplayoffs.com and click on “Where to Watch.”
    The AHSAA Radio Network is also broadcasting the final across the state. The link is available at www.ahsaa.com.