GREENVILLE — Defense wins championships.

That statement was especially true for the Andalusia tinymites on Saturday, as the Bulldogs beat Straughn 6-0 in overtime to claim the 2013 Tri-County Super Bowl Championship at the YMCA in Greenville.

The game was a defensive battle that saw both teams come up with some big stops.

Andalusia tinymites coach Michael Jackson said it was a “hard fought” game.

“It feels great,” Jackson said about winning the Super Bowl. “I knew it would go down to the wire.”

With Saturday’s victory, the Bulldogs finished the season 9-0, and won their second straight Super Bowl Championship.

Jackson said the coaches and players knew it was going to be a tough battle.

“I knew they were a great defensive team and we have a great defensive team,” he said. “I knew it would come down to defense — it’s what we coached all week.”

The Tigers got the ball first in OT, but one penalty — a holding call on the first play of the drive, put the ball back at the 20 to provide a rough start. Each team starts from the 10-yard line in OT.

Straughn made it down to the 4 after Andalusia was charged with encroachment on the line, and then the Tigers took a timeout to regroup.

The Bulldogs, like they practiced all week, came up with a big stop when Desmain Yelverton chased down Straughn’s Micah Turner on fourth down to force a turnover on downs.

“He was huge all day,” Jackson said about Yelverton. “He had his game face on.”

On Andalusia’s offensive drive in the extra period, it came down to Andalusia’s Kaden Denson.

Jackson said Denson requested the ball in the extra period.

On third down, Denson rolled around the left end from 3 yards to score the game-winning touchdown.

In the fourth quarter, Andalusia’s Elisha Stoudemire wrapped up Straughn’s Aaron Olhava for a big third-down stop for a 5-yard loss to force the Tigers to punt.

The Bulldogs ate some clock on their next offensive series, but the Tigers came up with another big stop on a fourth-and-two play to get the ball back with 1:28 left in the game.

Jackson said he knew if the team got the game into overtime, that they’d win.

“We’re just glad we won,” the coach said.

Straughn tinymites coach John Wiggins said he was proud of his boys for their effort this year.

“They played their hearts out,” Wiggins said. “They’ve got nothing to hang their heads about. They had a great season. I enjoyed coaching them. We’ll be ready for next year for the ones coming up and the ones going out.”

The Tigers finished the season 5-2.