The No. 4-ranked Andalusia Bulldogs defeated the No. 1-ranked UMS-Wright Bulldogs 27-21 in an overtime-thriller on Friday night in Andalusia.

It was the first time in school history, that Andalusia defeated UMS-Wright on the gridiron.

Andalusia got the ball to start the game and senior quarterback Ethan Wilson led the Bulldog charge down the field.

On fourth-and-5 in UMS-Wright territory, Wilson connected with B.J. Anderson for a 16-yard gain to set the Bulldogs up inside the red zone.

The long drive was capped off by a Roosevelt Weaver touchdown for the first score of the game.

Reese Burkhardt knocked down the extra-point for a 7-0 Andalusia lead.

UMS-Wright didn’t waste much time as Symon Smith broke loose for 55-yard score to tie the game 7-7.

Andalusia began to drive the ball down the field behind solid runs from Wilson and Weaver, but UMS-Wright ended up getting Andalusia into a fourth-and-one from the UMS-Wright 34-yard line.

Wilson took the carry on the fourth down play and went 34 yards to the end zone to put Andalusia up 14-7 with 11:50 left in the second quarter.

UMS-Wright got a 7-yard gain from Smith on their next play.

On the following play, Andalusia’s Marteez Wilkerson crushed Smith in the backfield for a 4-yard loss.

Andalusia held UMS-Wright on third down and forced the first punt of the game.

Andalusia got a big gain on a diving catch by Anderson, but a couple of holding penalties pushed Andalusia back and forced a punt.

Both teams traded punts to close out the first half with Andalusia on top 14-7.

UMS-Wright began the second half with a monster return to the Andalusia 17-yard line, and quickly found themselves set up with a first-and-goal.

The Andalusia defense bowed up and put UMS-Wright into a fourth-and-goal from the 3-yard line.

UMS-Wright attempted a pass, but Anderson stepped in front and came away with the interception.

Starting on the their own 1-yard line and then moving back a half of a yard on a holding call, Wilson connected with Anderson for a 99-yard touchdown to put Andalusia up 21-7.

The teams traded another set of punts before UMS-Wright took over late in the third quarter.

Smith picked up 40 yards on the first play of the drive, and a few plays later Fairhope transfer Dylan Casstevens punched the ball in from 3 yards out.

On the extra-point attempt, an Andalusia player got a hand on the ball and caused it to come up short.

With 11:54 left in the game, Andalusia held a 21-13 lead.

Andalusia began to drive down the field on the next drive and looked like they might put the game on ice, but UMS-Wright’s Will Courtney came up with a big interception to give his team another chance.

UMS-Wright took over and drove down the field, but the Andalusia defense was in bend-don’t-break mode as they stopped UMS-Wright on four straight plays inside the Andalusia 10-yard line to force a turnover on downs with 1:25 left in the contest.

Andalusia ran three plays, but just came up short of a first down.

Andalusia got a strong punt from Wilson out of his own end zone, but UMS-Wright got a huge return down to the Andalusia 6-yard line with 48.2 seconds left in regulation.

UMS-Wright quarterback Will Chapman connected with Casstevens on the first play of the drive to put them back in the ball game.

UMS-Wright tacked on the two-point conversion to tie the game 21-21 with 37 seconds left in regulation.

UMS-Wright got the ball to start overtime and looked to score on the first play, but a holding call marched them back.

A few plays later, they rushed in to the end zone again, but another holding call set the up with a second-and-goal from the Andalusia 23.

On the next play, Anderson laid out and intercepted a Chapman pass to end all scoring chances for UMS-Wright.

A few plays later, Weaver struck gold from 2 yards out to seal the victory.

“I can’t say enough about they way these kids played tonight,” Andalusia head coach Trent Taylor said. “Our defense did an outstanding job. One of our best defensive lineman, William Lindsey, went down on the first play of the game and some guys stepped up in a big way. There were just so many players out there tonight that made this win possible. This is a big win for us.”