As the train horn sounded, it felt like a train had just arrived in the station. The Gunter football team train arrived and were crowned champions, defeating Boling 43-7 in the 3A Division II title game for the school’s first state championship in their first title game appearance.
Gunter raced out to a 21-0 lead midway through the second quarter and while Boling had come back from early deficits in the previous two rounds, the Tigers were just too much to handle on this night.
“When we deferred, we felt like we could stop them off the bat, so out plan worked out well from the start,” Gunter head coach Jake Fieszel said about his team getting off to a fast start. “I was a little worried about how we would come out with the environment but we told our guys it was just another game.”
Colton Stovall and Trey Carr helped get the Tigers out to that quick start. Carr scored the first touchdown on a two-yard run and Stovall would add two more scores of his own. On the night, Stovall was named offensive MVP of the game with his four touchdowns and 180 yards rushing. Carr finished with 115 yards and the touchdown that came in the first quarter.
“Colton (Stovall) was himself tonight,” Fieszel said. “Nothing he does surprises me, this was just business as usual.”
The Gunter defense (16-0) was stout all night, holding the Boling offense to 142 yards on the night. Boling’s standout quarterback Vernon Jackson entered Thursday’s title game averaging 147 yards rushing per gameon the season. He finished with just 39 yards on the ground.
“We shot the gaps and executed our game plan to perfection tonight,” Fieszel said. “They were running all over the place making plays, playing fundamentally sounds it was a fantastic game from our defense.”
Gunter had never gotten past the regional final before this year so this year was a big break through for the Tigers.
“It feels great to be 16-0 right now and I’ll allow the 24 hour rule to slide here,” Fieszel said. “Really happy for our community, they supported so much this year and to finally win it all, what a feeling.
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