went on to win the state title games with relative ease. Coach Little resigned after the 1979 season, and his replacement was long time GW Carver defensive coordinator Charles Sikes. Coach Sikes' teams showed steady improvement for the first 3 seasons, posting a combined record of 17–13. His best team was the 1987 squad who finished with a 7–4 mark. Coach Sikes relinquished his coaching duties after the 1989 season. His replacement, after much controversy, was long time Lanier assistant coach, Robert Fuller. Coach Fuller's first 4 seasons marked the worst 4-year span in school history with a total of 9 wins. But the 1995 squad was much improved. The most notable game of the 1995 season came on a fall night in Cramton Bowl between an undefeated Sidney Lanier team and cross town rival Jeff Davis. Lanier had lost 21 consecutive games to Jeff Davis, but that streak came to a halt in '95 with Lanier led by team captains Carlos Locklyn, Chrysanthus Chukwuma, Corey Walker and Ali Dobson. The Poets managed grueling game to beat Jeff Davis in a hard-fought slugfest. The Poets then possessed a 7–0 record and Number 4 ranking in the state. The Poets would later face Prattville High School, losing a tough battle on the road 34–13 falling to 8–1. After Hurricane Opal obliterated Cramton Bowl field, the Poets were forced to play Robert E. Lee, at the unwillingness of both school's Head coaches, due to a super-saturated field; the Poets fell to cross town rival and costing them a shot at a state championship. Opposing head coaches across the State including city rivals, argued Lanier deserved at least a #4 playoff seed, the Sidney Lanier Poets were left out, thus finishing 8–2 in 1995 (5 All-State 1st Team/Honorable Mentioned Players). Coach Fuller's 1999 and 2000 teams, led by Keldrick Williams, Rod Sharpe, Tavaris Jackson, and Nigel Eldridge. The 1999 squad with Rod Sharpe anchoring the defensive line, and the hardest hitting defense in Alabama won the 6A Area 6 Championship by upsetting Robert E. Lee in the season finale, and went on to record 3 playoff wins, setting up a rematch with Archrival Robert E. Lee. The Generals won the rematch in a slugfest 14–12. The 2000 squad entered the season finale at 9–0 and Ranked No. 2 in the state against Robert E. Lee. But, reflecting the unpredictability of this fierce rivalry