Cook added another long run, this time it was 41-yards, getting the ball to the Nashville three-yard line.

A third down one-yard quarterback sneak from junior Joe Brummer pushed the St. Teresa lead to 28-14.

The next Nashville drive proved to be pivotal as the Hornets converted on a fourth-and-goal from the Bulldogs four-yard line.

Turner got open in the left side of the endzone and Gajewski found him with a pass that resulted in a touchdown.

The PAT made it 28-21 Bulldogs with 5:08 remaining in the third quarter.

Neither team could score again in the third quarter but St. Teresa scored the first points on the final quarter.

Joe Brummer only completed one pass on the day but it was a good one.

With a first down at the Nashville 42, Brummer dropped back and found senior wide receiver Tre Spence down the right sidelines.

The play covered those 42-yards as Spence took it all the way to pay-dirt.

The successful PAT put the Bulldogs in command at 35-21 with 8:26 left.

Ironically the scoreboard read the same score in which Bulldogs lost in the 2019 semifinal against Nashville and it would have been a fitting ending for a revenge minded club.

But the storybook ending was going to come from the other sideline.

It took just under two minutes for the Hornets to score as Gladson finished off the scoring drive with a 29-yard burst up the middle and another PAT got Nashville to within 35-28 at the 6:34 mark.

The first of the successful onside kicks came on the ensuing kickoff.

Garibay kicked the ball to the left side where Gladson came up with the ball at the Nashville 48.

After a Gladson run up the middle for short yardage, Gajewski and Turner hooked up again.

Turner got loose in the secondary and Gajewski found him down the right sideline.

Turner did the rest as the play covered 52-yards.

However the PAT by Garibay was blocked by 6-4, 247 defensive tackle Noah Hayes.

This left the Hornets down 35-34 with 5:22 remaining.

Another onside kick by Garibay recovered by Turner gave Nashville another shot at scoring but the Hornets came up empty, being stopped on downs at the St. Teresa 45.

“We work on the onside kicks every day at practice,” said Turner. “Coach always preaches 'stay in the fight' and we were down and we capitalized. We just had to focus on the next possession (after the PAT was blocked) and execute on offense. If you look at our history we haven't had great football success but to make it to two straight state football championship games is awesome, I can't even describe it.”

At this point, the Bulldogs just needed to move the ball and run the clock to advance to the championship game.

They picked up a first down on an 11-yard Cook run to open the drive but they eventually faced a fourth-and-three at the Hornets.

St. Teresa opted to run the clock down before calling a timeout with 1:37 left.

Everyone in attendance knew who was going to get the ball on this fourth down.

Cook rushed up the middle and appeared headed for a first down but he lost his footing which allowed the Hornets to tackle him short of the first down.

Nashville got the ball back at their own 35 with 1:32 left.

With no panic to be found, the senior led club moved into scoring position.

Two Gladson runs were followed by a 23-yard pass from Gajewski to Turner to reach the St. Teresa 20 where Gajewski then spiked the ball to stop the clock at :15.7 left.

A seven-yard run by Gajewski and a six-yard run by Gladson with a Nashville timeout after each play, pushed the Hornets to the St. Teresa seven with :05.7 remaining.

After a St. Teresa timeout to let Garibay think about what was about to happen, the Hornets took care of the blocking assignments and Garibay took care of the kick.

Garibay's kick gave his team the victory.

St. Teresa had one chance after a fair catch on the next kickoff gave the Bulldogs the ball at their own 41.

But a desperation pass from Brummer was a wobblier that was knocked down by Turner as the Hornets celebrated the victory.

The Bulldogs will look back at a game they let get away because of mistakes.

Coach Mark Ramsey's club committed 10 penalties for 85-yards.

“Nothing like this, what a roller coaster.”

That was the answer Coach Stephen Kozuszek gave when asked if he had every been part of a game like this.

“It was up and down with emotions. The kids made plays on both sides of the ball. We had such a tough time stopping them (St. Teresa) on short down and distance plays all game long. But when it counted the kids stepped up,” said Coach Kozuszek. “I credit our kids for not panicking. It helps that we run 'no huddle fast football' at times so that was not a strange situation (final drive) for them.”

The Hornets will face a Wilmington team that, like St. Teresa, relies on the run.

The Wildcats have scored 40 or more points in six-consecutive games, including all four playoff wins.

In their quarterfinal win over Kankakee Bishop McNamara the Wildcats didn't attempt a pass.

In the semifinal 42-14 win over Downs Tri-Valley, Wilmington had the ball for 31 minutes of the 48 minute contest.