UMS-Wright 21, Fayette County 7
      TUSCALOOSA – UMS-Wright posted three touchdowns in the first half as the Bulldogs beat Fayette County 21-7 to claim the AHSAA Super 7 Class 4A state football championship at Bryant-Denny Stadium Friday.
     Sophomore running back Symon Smith had 144 of his 200 yards in the first half, scoring on touchdown runs of 14 and 55 yards to spark the Bulldogs to a 21-0 lead by intermission. Will Chapman scored the other first-half TD on a 2-yard run. UMS-Wright’s defense also had its big moments too – stopping the Tigers on four downs inside the 10-yard line in the final minute of the second quarter.
    The championship was the sixth for UMS-Wright (13-2) during Coach Terry Curtis’ tenure and the seventh in school history.
         Fayette County (12-3) had the ball for just seven plays in the first quarter. The Tigers of Coach Lance Tucker opened the third period with a 10-play, 55-yard drive culminated with Chance Stevenson’s 4-yard run for the touchdown to cut the lead to 21-7. Stevenson, the Tigers’ quarterback, finished with 78 yards rushing on 21 carries and was 17-of-38 passing for 165 yards. Senior wide receiver Darius Nalls caught 11 passes for 108 yards. He finished his season with 78 receptions for 1,659 yards and 19 touchdowns.
    Will Chapman was 2-of-7 passing for seven yards for the Bulldogs.
     Fayette out-gained UMS-Wright 250 total yards to 229. The Bulldogs made four interceptions, however, with Trez Dixon swiping two for 50 yards in return yardage. Russ Myers and Conrad Inge had the other picks.  Dixon finished with eight tackles and Richard Brinson had six.  Leading the Tigers’ defense was Jamarious Jackson with eight tackles, Joe Koster, Colton Cooper and Tristan Nichols with seven each.
    The 2017 Super 7 State Championships continue today with two remaining finals: Lanett (14-0) versus Leroy (12-2) in the 2A championship at 3 p.m., and Wetumpka (13-1) facing Pinson Valley (14-0) in the 6A finals at 7 p.m.
     All games are being televised live by Raycom Media over its Raycom/AHSAA Network of affiliates and D-2 stations. The games are 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 all games across the state. The link is available at www.ahsaa.com.