As fans celebrated with the players on the field, Williston-Elko head coach Dwayne Garrick was greeted by his wife with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

For Garrick and the Blue Devils, the scene at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium a year ago was one that they did not want to be a part of again. The memory of being the 2008 Class A Division I runner-up behind Scott’s Branch was all the fuel that they needed to pull out a thrilling 34-26 championship victory.

“Last year was all in our head,” Williston-Elko running back Dexter Staley said. “All this season, we were just worried about getting to state. We basically wanted to play (Scott’s Branch) and we got the team we wanted to play. So, that was in our heads all year to get payback and that’s what we did.”

The Eagles (14-0) posted the first points of the game in the opening quarter. After a 3-yard punt, Scott’s Branch took advantage of the excellent field position and marched down the field in four plays. Quinton Singleton capped the drive by scoring the first of his three rushing touchdowns from 23 yards out. Singleton went on to add the 2-point conversion to give Scott’s Branch a 8-0 lead.

W-E responded with a touchdown of their own in the second quarter. The Blue Devils would put together a 58-yard drive using nine plays. Tamyn Garrick kept the series alive by completing two critical passes down the field during the possession. The last of the two passes was caught by Demetrius Facison for a 30-yard touchdown making it an 8-6 game with 5:23 to go before halftime.

“We had one-on-one routes all over the place,” Garrick said when asked about using the passing attack. “It was just a matter of hitting them.”

Garrick finished the half 3-of-14 for 57 yards in the first half.

Nearly one minute later, Singleton found the end zone again for the Eagles. His 43-yard scoring run allowed Scott’s Branch to take a 14-6 advantage into the locker room at the half.

The Blue Devils found themselves down at the half with less than 100 yards of total offense to their credit with two quarters to go. If Williston-Elko was going to walk away with the state championship trophy this time around, someone was going to have to step up and give the Blue Devils the boost they needed. It just so happens that Dexter Staley would be that particular player.

“Coach said that if I was a big player, then big players step up in big games,” Staley said. “He said, ‘We can’t lose it two years in a row. We’re going to put the ball in your hands so you can do what you do’.”

Despite an injured shoulder, Staley didn’t let Garrick down. After a 43-yard kickoff return by Ondrew Bellinger, Staley cashed in on the second play from scrimmage scoring on a 47-yard run. He proceeded to add the 2-point conversion on the next play to tie the game 14-14. On their next drive, Staley caught a 14-yard reception to set up Tamyn Garrick’s second touchdown pass to Facison to give W-E their first lead. Garrick went on to find Staley for the 2-point conversion making it 22-14 with 4:01 to go in the third.

Singleton cut the Blue Devils lead to 22-20 with an 11-yard rushing touchdown to conclude a 15-play possession for the Eagles. Unfortunately, Singleton’s 2-point conversion attempt was stopped by the Williston-Elko defense to maintain their slim lead.

The Blue Devils knocked six minutes and 30 seconds off the clock during their ensuing series. Staley continued to give Williston-Elko the boost they needed as he battled his lingering injury. Even with the bad shoulder, Staley found a way to sprint across the goal line from three yards out making it a 28-20 game in favor of W-E with 4:11 left to play.

Without momentum or the game clock on their side, Scott’s Branch had to find a way to score. The Devils keyed in on Singleton and kept him bottled up during the Eagles’ drive. But a fourth-and-seven halfback pass by Kadeem Baxter to quarterback Jerell Adams caught the W-E defense off guard allowing the Eagles to make it a 28-26 game with 1:53 to go. However, that would be the last time the Eagles would cross the goal line as Timothy Bryant was stopped by the Blue Devils’ defense on the 2-point conversion attempt.

Even though W-E had the ball and the title within reach, Staley would ultimately put the game away with a 49-yard touchdown with 25 seconds to go.

“Dexter’s a competitor,” Dwayne Garrick said. “I think that showed during the last quarter when we got in the Wishbone. He’s a better competitor than he is an athlete and he’s a heck of an athlete.”

Garrick went on to admit that the win was special for him and his players. However, he believes that the win points out a much greater detail for his team.

“It’s great to win the state championship,” he said. “It’s greater for these kids than it is for me from a coaching standpoint. At the same time, that’s not why I coach. But it sure is nice to be able to win a state championship. It means that you’re doing something right and that you’ve got the program going in the right direction.”

Chesterfield defeats

Lamar in other game, 36-6

The second game of the Class A championship doubleheader was not as contentious as the first. The Chesterfield Golden Rams scored 27 unanswered points in the first three quarters of play on their way to a 36-6 win over Lamar to earn their third consecutive Class A state title.

“This never gets old,” Chesterfield head coach Steve Taneyhill said. “I think our kids expect to be in this game. We don’t ever talk about it, but I think going into the season, that’s the end goal. This year, we did a good job taking one Friday at a time week by week, but I think in the back of our minds, they wanted to be here and to win it.”

Seth Truesdale, Sergio Johnson and Derrick McQueen proved to be the catalyst of the Golden Rams offense against the Silver Foxes. Truesdale was 10-of-17 passing for 156 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Johnson finished the game with 117 yards of total offense with two touchdowns. Derrick McQueen came away with 174 rushing yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. For the speedy running back, this championship is the best of the three that he’s won.

“It’s my senior year,” he said. “and to go out like this with a 3-peat, it’s really special to me.”

T&D Sports Writer Emery Glover can be reached by e-mail at eglover@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5532. Check out his blog, Cover 2, at www.thetandd.com.

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