It came down to one final drive to decide the Class 6A State Championship between Brandon and Madison Central.
With three and a half minutes left in the game and three timeouts, Brandon had a chance to drive down the field and tie the game.
Madison Central quickly forced the Bulldogs to a fourth and long. Brandon quarterback completed a pass to Joshua Coe but was a yard short after Kelsey Singleton came up with a tackle.
Madison Central (13-1) converted a first down to seal the 24-17 win. For the Jaguars its their first state championship win since 1999 and ever second in school history.
As for Madison Central coach Tay Collums, it was 28 years ago to the day that he won a state championship at Smithville as a player.
On the game's first drive, Brandon (8-3) came out slinging the ball as quarterback Landon Varnes completed passes of 33 and 40 yards. The Bulldogs found themselves facing third and goal on the 23-yard line. Varnes delivered a touchdown pass to Lester Miller, who made a leaping catch to give Brandon a 7-0 lead. Varnes finished the game 16 of 27 and threw for 292 yards and a touchdown. Miller finished the game with eight catches for 170 yards and a touchdown.
Madison Central then began to find momentum on the next drive and drove to Brandon's 1-yard line. However, running back De'andre Pullen fumbled, which resulted in a touchback.
The Jaguars managed to recover and go on the board at the start of the second quarter with a 35-yard field goal. On the next drive, the Jaguars pulled together a 9-play, 59-yard drive that was capped off by a 1-yard touchdown run from running back Isaiah Spencer, which made the score 10-7 at the half.
Each team continued to trade blows through the third quarter. Brandon kicked a 32-yard field goal to tie the game, but Madison Central quarterback Jake Norris delivered a 79-yard touchdown pass to Spencer to give the Jaguars the lead again.
Between the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth, Brandon pulled together an 11-play, 78-yard drive that resulted in running back Jarvis Durr scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 17-17. Durr came up with 68 of those yards on 10 different plays.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Norris scored on a 2-yard touchdown run. Norris, who took over the starting job after Vic Sutton went down a knee injury against Oxford two weeks, was named the game's MVP. Norris was for 5 of 9. For 124 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 55 yards and a touchdown.
