DUBLIN – During the previous two weeks, the No. 1 May Tigers had to overcome first-quarter adversity to keep their season alive. Saturday night in the state semifinals, the No. 2 Abbott Panthers snatched the lead away from May in the fourth period, still the Tigers rallied for a 50-48 victory and second straight appearance in the Class A Division I state championship game.
May (14-0) will face No. 5 Westbrook (10-4) – a 54-20 winner over No. 8 Happy (10-4) Friday night – in the Class A Division I state championship game at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 15 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
“All our kids have been talking about since getting beat last year is getting back and trying to get some redemption,” said May 18th-year head coach Craig Steele, whose 2020 Tigers squad fell to Sterling City, 68-22, in the state final. “It’ll be tough playing Westbrook. I know they’re good, but I’d rather have my chance at redemption than not have a chance.”
In advancing to Arlington, the Tigers defeated their third consecutive previously-unbeaten squad, all of which were ranked in the Top 5 in the state.
“We’ve run a heck of a gauntlet the last three weeks playing Jonesboro, then Water Valley, then Abbott tonight,” Steele said. “We’re beat up. We’re going to need the week and a half off to heal up a little bit. Three hard weeks of prep, three hard weeks of physicality, and I’m proud of our kids for finding a way. That’s what it takes. The kids gutted it out.”
May led comfortably 30-16 at halftime and on two separate occasions in the second half had opportunities to stretch the advantage to three scores. Instead, a pair of uncharacteristic fumbles derailed the Tiger momentum and breathed new life into Abbott (13-1).
Still in front 36-24 with 1:12 left in the third period, the Tigers coughed up the ball for the second time at the Abbott 19 and on the next play, Robert Munoz – who rushed for 231 of the Panthers’ 266 total yards – galloped 61 yards to the end zone to trim May’s lead to 36-32.
The Tigers then failed to gain a first down on its next possession, and Abbott took over at the May 28 with 9:07 left in the contest. Four plays later, Isaiah Singleton barreled into the end zone from 16 yards out, and Abbott owned its first lead, 40-36, with 7:46 left in the contest.
“We haven’t been behind a ton this year and neither has Abbott, and to their credit they did a good job coming back,” Steele said. “Those guys played their tails off over there and they had a very good game plan for us. But I was proud of our kids’ response. It was time to get it done, and there was no other option for them.”
The Tigers answered with a seven-play, 48-yard drive the chewed 3:46 off the clock as May regained a 44-40 edge on a 1-yard plunge by Avery Williford, who finished with 144 rushing yards and two touchdowns to go along with two catches for 58 yards with a trip to end zone.
Williford left the game the play prior to May’s second fumble as the wind was knocked out of him after being tackled. Williford has suffered from a recurring dislocated shoulder throughout the season that led to early exits from previous contests, but this time his absence was brief. Upon his return to the contest, Williford took over for May on both sides of the ball.
“He has a lot of will and just made up his mind he was going to get it done and he did,” Steele said.
“We’re not used to getting behind so we had to show we wanted it more,” Williford said. “We had some kids hurting so I took up some slack. We had other kids that got on their blocks and we just power housed them to the end zone.”
After reclaiming the advantage, the Tiger defense forced Abbott into a four-and-out, with a host of May players dragging down Singleton on a fourth-and-18 run from the Panther 22.
“At times I don’t think we tackled very well, we didn’t fill lanes very well, and then at times we dominated,” Steele said. “It was kind of weird balance.”
Just two plays later, with 1:45 left in the contest, Williford rumbled into the end zone from 21 yards out, staking the Tigers to a 50-40 lead.
Abbott wouldn’t go away, however, as in only two snaps the Panthers were back on the board, scoring on a 38-yard sprint from Munoz to close the gap to 50-48 with 1:13 left.
Bryson Guerrero then secured Abbott’s ensuing onside kick, and the Tigers were able to run out the clock and punch their ticket to the state final.
The Tigers finished with 460 yards of total offense – 346 rushing and 114 passing.
Kaden Halk chipped in 122 yards and three touchdowns on the ground and sparked the offense in the first half, while Blake Harrell connected on 5 of 8 passes for 114 yards and a scoring toss, while rushing for 69 yards. Kaysen King caught a 37-yard pass, Halk added two receptions for 9 yards, and Braden Steele rushed for 11 yards and grabbed a 10-yard reception.
Abbott rushed for 264 of its yards and completed just 1 of 5 pass attempts for 2 yards with four sacks.
“We’ve got great senior leaders, they’ve done a great job of keeping the kids where they need to be, and then we have some young kids that really stepped up tonight and played well,” Steele said.
The Tigers struck first on a 42-yard Halk sprint, but Abbott answered with a 49-yard jaunt to the end zone by Munoz to knot the score at 8 just 1:33 into the contest.
May regained a 16-8 lead on Halk’s second touchdown run from 5 yards out at 3:04 of the first period. The score was set up by a Williford sack of Karsyn Johnson and fumble recovery at the Panther 30 – the Tigers’ 45th takeaway of the season.
Following one of three Abbott punts, the Tigers needed just three plays to extend the lead to 22-8 on a 46-yard scoring toss from Harrell to Williford.
With 9:11 left in the first half, Abbott shaved the deficit to 22-16 on a 42-yard touchdown run by Munoz, but the Tigers answered with a 31-yard scoring gallop from Halk for a 30-16 halftime edge.
At the Abbott 22 on their first possession of the second half, the Tigers coughed up the ball for the first time, and two snaps later Sustala scored on a 15-yard carry to close the gap to 30-24.
“I knew that was something we really couldn’t afford to do,” Steele said of May’s two turnovers. “We’ve done a good job all year and we really didn’t tonight. But there was no panic. We didn’t panic, the kids stuck to the plan and did a good job.”
May quickly responded with a two-play, 65-yard scoring drive as a 37-yard pass from Harrell to King set up a 28-yard touchdown run by Williford, making the score 36-24 at the 2:53 mark of the third.
Looking ahead to the state game, Steele said, “Westbrook is a quality team and they’ve also played a very murderous schedule this year. I know they’ve gone through their ups and downs physically as well, but we’re looking forward to it.”
Damian Salinas, a member of last year’s state finalist squad, said, “We’re not satisfied yet. We want to win it this year instead of just going.”
May will be seeking its first state championship since 1977. The Tigers also played in the state final at AT&T Stadium in 2013 and 2014, as well as last year, with the last three appearances coming under Steele’s guidance.
