At this point, the 'grinding' offense of Wilmington took off into a slow crawl.

Coach Reents' club used 11-plays to go 58-yards, with Friddle breaking through the Nashville line to go the final 23-yards for the first score of the game.

Senior linebacker/tight end/place kicker Allen Richards kicked the PAT for a 7-0 with 3:14 remaining in the first quarter.

That was a 7:40 drive, which turned out to be an omen of what would transpire the rest of the afternoon for Nashville to deal with.

Two penalties on Nashville put the Hornets in trouble in their next possession with an illegal block on the kick off return and then a false start moving the ball back to the Nashville 7-yard line.

Two incomplete passes later and Nashville had to punt the ball back to Wilmington.

Coach Kozuszek saw his club stop Wilmington on fourth-and-one, taking over on downs at their own 35.

Six plays later, aided by a face mask penalty, the Hornets were faced with a fourth-and-six at the Wilmington 40.

Gajewski dropped back to pass and found Turner on a pass over the middle and Turner did the rest, racing into the endzone for a score with 10:00 left in the half.

Eduardo Garibay, one of the heroes of the Decatur St. Teresa semifinal win to get the Hornets to the finals, converted the PAT to even things at 7-7.

As mentioned earlier, this was the only real bright spot of the day for Nashville.

After forcing a Wilmington punt after another long drive, the Hornets were once again pinned back deep in their own territory.

Facing a fourth down after two more incomplete passes, Gajewski stepped back in shotgun formation, something that the Hornets had done all season in fourth down situations.

However his punt was blocked by Wilmington's senior linebacker Karsen Hansen with the Wildcats getting the ball at the Nashville 18 with 2:15 left.

Methodically Wilmington chewed up those 18-yards with junior quarterback Ryder Meents scoring a quarterback sneak from one-yard out with :19 remaining.

The PAT was good by Richards for a 14-7 halftime lead for the Wildcats.

Wilmington got the ball to start the second half a milked more time off of the clock on a short drive that stalled on the Nashville 30.

A 47-yard field goal attempt by Richards was no good, giving the Hornets back the ball at their own 20.

Late in the third quarter Nashville, with Wilmington committing a couple of penalties (horse collar tackle and pass interference) moved to the Wildcats' territory.

But faced with a fourth-and-seven from the Wilmington 36, Gajewski completed a pass to Turner over the middle but he was tackled just short of the first down yardage.

A measurement by the chain gang confirmed that the Hornets were short as Wilmington took over at their own 29.

The Wildcats ran the final minutes off of the clock in the third quarter and first 2:55 of the fourth quarter on its next drive.

Sophomore running back Colin James rushed 19 times for 71-yards in the contest.

However none were bigger than the 15-yards he picked up on a second down in their own territory, moving the ball to the Nashville 40.

Three plays later, Friddle broke through the Hornets' line, broke two tackle attempts as he raced the final 34-yards for a touchdown.

Another PAT made it 21-7 with 9:05 left.

Nashville's next possession ended with the Hornets again being stopped on fourth down and one on their own 29.

Senior Connor Gladson was stopped on a one-yard loss giving Wilmington back the ball at the Nashville 28.

Coach Reents' club ran off another four minutes off of the clock before Richards ended the scoring with a 32-yard field goal with 3:05 left.

The Hornets managed to move the ball down field with a 10-play, 43-yard drive into the Wilmington sided of the field before four straight incomplete passes turned the ball back over to the Wildcats.

A quick victory formation kneel down by Meents sealed the 24-7 win.

Another player that stood out on Friday was Richards, who is a 6-3, 218 senior.

He was credited with nine solo tackles and three assists.

As a place kicker, Richards had five kickoffs for a total of 273-yards with one touchback.

It was the second championship for the Wildcats, having won the 2014 3A title.

This was Nashville's third championship game, having lost previously in title games in 1998 and again in 2019

“I can't say enough about how great these kids are. They are talented but they are also great kids,” said Coach Kozuszek. “They held together, they are really a 'close knit' group. They really played together as a team.”