State title recap: How five teams won state titles in Week 15 action

ByTravis Stewart/Texas Football

3A DI State Championship:
Gilmer 43, Abilene Wylie 26Like it's done so many times this season, Gilmer exploded out of the gates offensively to put itself in pole position -- 21-0 in the first half and 24-7 at halftime. That big lead held through the end to cap Gilmer's undefeated season (15-0) and give the Buckeyes their second state title. As usual, Gilmer QB Stump Godfrey was very good, finishing with 266 yards and a score (on 20-of-27 passing) through the air and 148 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, and his accurate passing early in the game converted a pair of key third downs to give Gilmer its first score (7-0). After both teams traded punts, Gilmer struck again, this time on a long pass to the five, where the receiver fumbled the ball, only to see it recovered by a Buck in the endzone for another score (14-0). The quick start was completed on the next drive, when Wylie QB Matt Preston threw an interception and Gilmer scored a few plays later (21-0). By halftime, Wylie had been outgained by nearly 200 yards. The Bulldogs played better in the second half, scoring three times to at least make things close, but Gilmer also scored three more touchdowns to continually keep Wylie at bay. The key may have been the ground game -- Gilmer ran for 224 yards on 38 touches, while Wylie managed just 69 yards on nearly the same attempts. The win also closes out the brilliant tenure of Godfrey, who finishes as one of the state's top career passers. 2A DI State Championship:
Pilot Point 35, Kirbyville 18A second chance at a title in two years was thwarted for Kirbyville Saturday afternoon in San Marcos when Pilot Point's Jarman Johnson just refused to lose. Like Gilmer, Pilot Point got off to a quick start, putting Kirbyville in a 14-0 hole that actually could have been worse. Pilot Point opened with the ball, and Johnson, who would come oh-so-close to 3,000 rushing yards on the season, made a statement immediately: a 44-yard touchdown run where he blew through the defense and outran everyone to the endzone. Then, on the first play of Kirbyville's ensuing possession, the ball came loose on what looked to be a shaky handoff, and Pilot Point's Justin Chambers fell on it near midfield. Pilot Point went right back to the run game, and after using Johnson on a sweep play out of the five-wide formation for good yardage, the Bearcats ran the same play again, and this time QB Seth Tilley kept it for the second touchdown. And that's when Kirbyville finally woke up -- on the first play of its next drive, KV's Fred Ford stunned the stadium with an electrifying 42-yard touchdown run around the left side that left defenders grasping at straws. The PAT was a botch, leaving the score at 14-6, but Kirbyville scored again minutes later (again via Ford on the ground) to make it 14-12. Pilot Point engineered another brilliant drive near the end of the half, again punctuated by a Johnson touchdown, to make it 21-12. That would be the halftime score, but the break was tinged with sorrow when PP's Blake Feldt was injured shortly before half -- he did not return. But the PP defense limited Kirbyville to just a touchdown in the final two frames, and Johnson ended up with four touchdowns on the night. The win makes Pilot Point 15-0 on the year, like Gilmer, and also tops an amazing run -- a celebratory effort after Johnson and brother Willie Davis lost their father to cancer a week ago.1A DI State Championship:
Goldthwaite 29, Canadian 25 There's so many story lines here it's hard to know where to begin -- but the best has to be that this result was one of the bigger upsets in recent memory. After all, Canadian was one of three teams bidding for a third-straight state championship this season. But it was Goldthwaite's defense, which has been sensational all year, that came up aces. Canadian, trailing 29-25, took over possession at its own 2-yard line with less than three minutes to play. It was able to drive into Goldthwaite territory, but that stout defense picked off a Brandon Robinson pass to end any threat. Goldthwaite finishes the year 15-0, just like Gilmer and Pilot Point, but the Eagles had one thing neither of those teams did -- a defense that allowed just 128 points all season, an astonishing number. Both Gilmer and Pilot Point allowed well over the 200 mark. That late-game interception was the key moment, but that drama was set up by a crazy third quarter -- Goldthwaite scored on two touchdown passes of more than 60 yards and Canadian got two touchdown runs out of Brandon Robinson. Canadian trailed by 8 at the start of the fourth. That's when two very important things happened -- first, Canadian scored a touchdown to come within two, and second, the game-tying two-point conversion attempt was intercepted and returned for a safety, bumping the advantage to four. That was the second failed attempt of the game for Canadian -- had it kicked PATs on both tries, the score would have been tied, and things could have turned out differently. Instead, Goldthwaite wins it fourth state title and first since winning bac-to-back titles in 1993 and 1994. Is this the start of something good?Six-man DI State Championship:
Garden City 122, Strawn 88Holy cow ... I need to take a nap or something. 210 points? Seriously? Don't worry -- it's officially the highest-scoring title game in six-man history (and, consequently, Texas high school football history), and Garden City got two enormous games out of its two most important skill players -- Josh Colunga (398 yards, 6 touchdowns rushing) and Blayne Batla (7 touchdown passes) to earn its first-ever state title. And to think it opened the season with a loss! Since that point, it went 14-0 and capped its title season with a win over the reigning DI champs. Strawn scored the opening touchdown of the game, but after that, Garden City erupted, scoring 28 unanswered points over the next 11 minutes to build a 28-7 lead. But the second quarter was beyond wild -- the two teams combined for 76 points in just more than nine minutes to leave with Garden City with a 68-48 advantage. Strawn cooled off a bit, scoring just 24 in the third. Garden City did not -- it scored 40, marking its second-straight quarter of at least 40 points. After that, Strawn was in too deep of a hole to crawl back out of.Six-man DII State Championship:
Borden County 28, Highland 14In marked contrast to the DI affair, the DII game finished with a score that looks to be right out of the Class 5A ranks! This one was odd from the very start -- and only five offensive possessions resulted in points (out of 18 attempts). Borden County runner Michael Cooley, arguably the biggest star in six-man play right now, finished with 139 yards but no touchdowns. It was actually senior Flynn Chapman who came through the most. Chapman kicked three PATs, a 26-yard field goal, caught a touchdown pass and ran for a 47-yard touchdown with just less than four minutes remaining to account for 22 of BC's 28 total points. And on defense, Borden County was very stout -- it scored its first touchdown on a 50-yard interception return and held Highland to just two touchdown passes for the game. How odd is it that two teams combine for just 42 points but just two punts? Borden County finishes the season 15-0 and has now won its second straight state title.