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Alabama high schools make national headlines for historic Friday night football game

Lawrence County vs. East Lawrence in historic 7 overtime football game
Lawrence County vs. East Lawrence in historic 7 overtime football game (photo c/o Moulton Advertiser)

MOULTON, Ala. — With high school football season in full swing in Alabama, teams from across the state each week get a chance to show what they are made of. Safe to say, those in Moulton last Friday saw exactly what Alabama high school football is all about.

Everyone in attendance at Red Devil Stadium last Friday night witnessed the Lawrence County Red Devils and East Lawrence Eagles fight tooth and nail right to the very end. After all was said and done the two teams had played 7 overtimes and ended with the Red Devils victorious 62-54.

This game will surely go down in history as one of the state’s most exciting regular-season games, and ties the AHSAA state record for most overtime periods in a single football game (1979).

“It will be remembered by all those in attendance old enough to appreciate what exactly it was they had just witnessed,” wrote The Moulton Advertiser. “Simply put, everyone at Red Devil Stadium Friday night witnessed history.”

“Never as a player, assistant or head coach have I seen a seven-overtime game,” said Lawrence County coach Rich Dutton in a post-game interview.

Lawrence County went 5-5 last year and missed the state playoffs by only one game.

East Lawrence went 0-10 last season and had not defeated Lawrence County since 2010. Though those in attendance Friday found that hard to believe.

“I know that our kids are disappointed, but in a game like this there really are no losers,” said East Lawrence coach Jarrod Helms.

The game made the USA Today High School Sports page, which wrote that East Lawrence, though defeated, can “hold its head high knowing that it set an almost unmeetable standard as the clubhouse leader for game of the year.”

Here’s the play by play of those 7 overtimes by The Moulton Advertiser.

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