Mount Ida used its Split-Back Veer offense and a late two-point conversion stop on defense to win its second state championship Saturday afternoon.
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The Lions held off previously undefeated Hampton 27-26 in the Class 2A state championship game at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
It was Mount Ida's second state championship. The Lions defeated Bearden in the 2007 Class 2A final.
"They found a way," Mount Ida Coach Michael White said. "They found a way all year. We started playing good football when we got to the playoffs, and it paid off."
Mount Ida (14-1), the No. 1 seed from the 7-2A Conference, rushed for 346 yards, averaging 5.6 yards per carry, and held the ball for 28:06. Defensively, Mount Ida forced two turnovers.
"That's how we've won all of our football games," said White, whose team did not attempt a pass. "We run it behind that big offensive line. We keep pounding and keep pounding. In the second half, it takes its toll. We got some first downs when we had to."
Junior Cade Helms, the game's most valuable player, rushed for 195 yards on 19 carries and finished with a team-high nine tackles at linebacker.
"I'm about to cry," Helms said. "This has been my dream."
The Lions led 27-20 with 3:10 remaining after sophomore quarterback Cade Jackson sneaked 1 yard into the end zone. Senior Tyler Abernathy missed the extra-point attempt, leaving the lead at seven points.
Hampton (13-1) responded, with senior quarterback Monta Thomas running 25 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown to pull the Bulldogs within 27-26 with 1:55 remaining.
The Bulldogs decided to go for two to take the lead, but Thomas' pass to junior Dante Rainey was incomplete.
"There was a lot of pressure on him, so he tried to heave it to the backside to a route we had called," Hampton Coach Wes Ables said. "We just couldn't make a play."
White said he was proud of his defense being able to stop Hampton from regaining the lead with less than two minutes left.
"We've been there. We didn't panic," White said. "We put a lot of pressure on the quarterback. We got it done."
Hampton attempted an onside kick, but Mount Ida recovered at midfield and sophomore Jonathan Lagrange's 8-yard run on third and 3 sealed the victory for the Lions.
Mount Ida trailed 20-14 at halftime, but took a 21-20 lead with 7:10 left in the third quarter on sophomore Gage Dyer's 5-yard touchdown run. Later, the Bulldogs had a third and goal at the Mount Ida 1 and Thomas tried to sneak it into the end zone. But the ball was stripped and recovered by senior Anthony Spurling with 4:04 remaining in the third quarter.
"We told them, it was going to take great individual effort in the realm of the team to win this football game," White said. "We were going to have some great individual plays. That's huge. That's just kids stepping up in crucial situations."
Thomas finished with 163 yards and 2 touchdowns on 14 carries. He completed 1 of 3 passes for 26 yards. Senior Kevin Childs had 108 rushing yards and 1 touchdown on 11 carries and classmate Emmanuel Hegler added 58 yards on 13 carries.
However, the Bulldogs committed 14 penalties for 108 yards and had 4 touchdowns called back -- all by Thomas.
"We didn't get no help," Ables said. "It wasn't fair, I can tell you that. It is what it is."
Hampton played in its first state championship game. The Calhoun County school did not field a team in 2015, but rebounded to win the 8-2A Conference and reach the Class 2A final despite the death of assistant coach Jorre McMahan in September.
"It's a success," Ables said of the Bulldogs' 2016 season. "Nobody picked us to be here. These kids have done a lot. The most wins in school history, the first state championship appearance. They don't have anything to hang their heads about."
Sports on 12/11/2016