For May 18th-year head coach Craig Steele, competing in the state championship game is nothing new. The Tigers are making their fourth trip to AT&T Stadium in Arlington since 2013 under Steele’s tutelage.

However, a state championship – which would be May’s first since 1977 – has eluded Steele and company thus far, a pattern the No. 1 Tigers (14-0) hope ends at 11 a.m. Wednesday when they square off with the No. 4 Westbrook Wildcats (10-4) for the Class A Division I state crown.

“I’ve been frustrated having gone three times and not having won one,” said Steele, who is 158-56 during his tenure at May. “Every time I get frustrated I think about all the great coaches that I know that have never even been to one – great coaches, hall of fame coaches. I try to keep it in perspective. Obviously it would mean a lot of me personally and it would mean a lot to these kids and this town if we could come home with a state championship.”

As for what separates this year’s team from the 13-2 squad a year ago that lost twice to Sterling City – including in the 2020 state final – Steele said, “We’re a little faster as a whole, and a little smaller, but that also makes us a little bit quicker. There’s a trade off there, but we’re still a physical football team. We’re probably a little bit faster and a little bit quicker and not quite as physically imposing as last year.”

May’s most recent three victories – 84-55 over Jonesboro, 70-49 over Water Valley and 50-48 Abbott – were all games in which the Tigers trailed at some point against previously-unbeaten, Top 5 programs.

As for surviving that stretch of games to reach state, Steele said, “It’s going to prepare because we really haven’t experienced a lot of downs. We experienced a lot of ups throughout the regular season, we haven’t experienced a lot of downs, and now we’ve gone through that gauntlet of emotions in both directions. I really believe that’s going to help our kids Wednesday when something bad happens. They’re not going to hang their heads, they’re going to stay calm and understand that we still have an opportunity to do some stuff as long as we don’t lose our heads and panic.”

Along with Jonesboro, Water Valley and Abbott, the Tigers own victories over Borden County (51-6), Sterling City (104-80), Knox City (65-16), Evant (63-6), Blum (77-14), and Newcastle (55-0), as well as District 13 foes Gorman (54-0), Santa Anna (58-0), Baird (82-34), Lingleville (54-8), and Irion County (68-20).

It was the win at Sterling City in Week 2, however, when Steele felt the Tigers had the potential to make another run at a state championship.

“I really didn’t know how they were going to react in that Sterling City game,” Steele said. “We got popped in the mouth pretty good in that game and kept coming back. After that game I felt like if could put 104 points up on Sterling City from an offensive standpoint that we could play with anybody. I felt like we needed to improve our defense and as the season wore on we did that.”

In Westbrook, May will be facing a foe that knocked off Sterling City twice – 60-50 in the regular season and 44-41 in the playoffs. After a 2-4 start, the Wildcats are riding an eight-game win streak into the state final with Robert Lee (45-0), Bronte (50-0), Ira (64-14), Rankin (86-38) and Happy (54-20) being among the victims.

“Those were some pretty good teams they lost to (Motley County, 46-30; Water Valley 55-34; Strawn, 68-52; Garden City, 56-44), they didn’t lose to any slouches,” Steele said of Westbrook. “They were also going through some injury problems at that time that they’ve recovered from. Westbrook played an extremely difficult schedule and it’s hard to get up time after time, especially in non-district. But those four losses don’t matter at all at this point in the season.”

During last week’s state semifinal victory over Happy, Westbrook led 14-12 midway through the second period before scoring 40 of the final 48 points.

Cedric Ware rushed for 258 yards and seven touchdowns for the Wildcats, while Jimmy Roberts Jr. chipped in 78 yards on the ground. Through the air, Shammah Stark was 5 of 13 for 129 yards with an an interception and a 19-yard touchdown to Bo Payne. Ware also caught two passes for 69 yards.

“He’s real good,” Steele said of Ware. “He’s got good speed, he’s got good balance, good lateral movement, he’s a tackle breaker, he’s really impressive. They are a good-sized team with good speed, and they’re physical. They have pretty much everything you want. They can throw the ball well, catch it well, they definitely present a stiff challenge for us for sure.”

Defensively, Westbrook yielded just 287 yards – 185 passing and 102 rushing. Two of Happy’s touchdowns came on passes of 8 and 33 yards, along with a 38-yard rush.

“They’ve got a really good nose guard, he’s a quick, athletic kid with size and I think the key to us moving the ball is blocking that kid,” Steele said. “They do a pretty good job of tackling. They’re a pretty physical defense. There’s some things I think we can do, but we’re going to have to execute well.”

May’s defense yields 24 points per game, but has forced 45 turnovers – 32 fumble recoveries and 13 interceptions – with 14 returned for touchdowns. Leading tacklers include Damian Salinas (123 tackles, 10.5 for loss, 4 INTs, 5 FRs), Blake Harrell (98 tackles, 11.5 for loss, 4 FRs, 1 FR), Avery Williford (96 tackles, 36.5 for loss, 5 FRs), Brian Kunkel (77 tackles, 10.5 for loss, 4 FRs, 1 INT), Kaden Halk (56 tackles, 3.5 for loss, 4 INTs, 4 FRs), and Kaysen King (55 tackles, 9 for loss, 5 FRs, 1 INT).

“Part of it is the kids and their physical nature,” Steele said of the defensive success this season. “They take the ball away, sometimes literally. A lot of that goes back to (defensive coordinator) Coach (Chad) Dail and the way he teaches defense and his mentality of a swarming defense, six kids to the ball. Fumbles happen all the time and you don’t always get on them but when you have kids swarming to the ball you find yourself getting on more fumbles than maybe you normally would.”

On the offensive end, the Tigers generate 67 points and 328 yards – 212 rushing and 116 passing – per game.

Leading the way on the ground are Halk (982 yards, 23 TDs), Williford (872 yards, 21 TDs), and Harrell (633 yards, 12 TDs), Braden Steele (229 yards, 3 TDs), and Salinas (187 yards, 6 TDs). Through the air, Harrell has completed 50 of 82 passes for 1,246 yards with 23 touchdowns and two interceptions, while Luke McKenzie has connected 20 of 33 attempts for 338 yards with 12 scoring tosses and one interception. Top receiving threats include Halk (18-383, 7 TDs), Williford (15-415, 10 TDs), King (10-261, 4 TDs), Salinas (8-203, 6 TDs), and Kunkel (7-163, 4 TDs).

“Rotating the backs has kept them healthy for the most part,” Steele said when breaking down the offense’s success. “It allows them to play fresh which allows them to play better. We’re known as a running team but we have the ability to throw the ball. Blake has over 1,100 yards passing, Luke has 400 yards passing, we’ve thrown for over 1,500 yards. Having that threat to be able to throw the football has really helped keep people honest.”

According to sixmanfootball.com, May is a 32-point favorite.

Regarding what it will take for the Tigers to emerge victorious, Steele said, “We have to tackle really well the first opportunity we get and not let them break tackles. We also can’t turn the ball over and we have to be satisfied with 4 to 5 yards a play and not try to make something happens that’s not there. Just grind on them and try and wear them out.”

And if the Tigers were to hoist the school’s second state championship in six-man football?

“It would be quite the town parade and party if we were to get one,” Steele said. “I sure would like to our for community. We have unmatched support. This town loves these kids, loves their football team. It would mean a lot to the kids obviously, but it sure would mean a lot of this community if we could do it. They back us win or lose, so we’d really like to reward their support.”