The first time was a complete shock and surprise. But when Fayetteville defeated Bentonville for a second straight season in the Class 7A title game to become the first 7A school to win back-to-back football championships, the Bulldogs showed once and for all they were no fluke.

“It was different this year,” Fayetteville coach Daryl Patton said. “Last year, in 2011, I don’t think anybody outside us here in Fayetteville in this lockerroom thought we could win a championship.

“This year we had huge expectations. Our schedule was a lot tougher, but it seemed like right off the bat we had some key guys that we couldn’t get healthy. And after we started 0-2 I’m sure there were a lot of people that jumped off the bandwagon and thought we were going to lay a big egg. But I’m proud of our coaches and our players. They came to work and said don’t worry about the nonconference and we kept getting better.”

The Purple’Dogs battled injuries early in the season and were hit with two early losses, dropping a 42-20 decision to Memphis University School in the Hooten’s Kickoff Classic and 49-39 at Jefferson City, Mo. But once key players — such as tailback Brice Gahagans, safety Alex Brignoni and linebacker Brooks Ellis — all were healthy at once, Fayetteville got on a roll.

And when playoff time came, it felt almost like deja vu, as the Purple’Dogs defeated Conway, North Little Rock and Bentonville, again, to make it two in a row.

“We started out 0-2 and that was tough to swallow at first because we had high expectations coming into the year,” senior quarterback Austin Allen said. “But going along through the season, we kept going into practice with excitement and all that and we just kept pushing. And coming out with a state championship is everything we wanted and more.

“So it was awesome.”