Photo by Max Gallagher

Dec. 12. By Ryan Moxon. A big play in Hough’s defensive secondary sealed the victory Thursday night as the Huskies beat the Millbrook Wildcats 21–0 to win their first football state championship in school history.

“We had our ups and downs tonight, and offensively we kind of got stagnant a little bit, but at the end of the day we pulled it out and the defense pitched a shutout,” head coach DeShawn Baker said after the game.

The undefeated Huskies opened the scoring on their first possession with a five-minute, 12-play, 66-yard drive capped by a rushing touchdown from junior quarterback Ethan Royal.

Both teams then played 37 minutes of scoreless football until a fierce 26-yard run after the catch by sophomore Jamarion Morrison on third-and-10 set up an 8-yard rushing touchdown by junior Jahmere Anderson, giving Hough a 14–0 lead at the start of the fourth quarter.

The game was the defensive battle everyone expected, and the tenacity from both teams can’t be overstated.

Millbrook kept Hough from advancing the ball beyond the 50-yard line on all but one possession in the first half. The Wildcats failed to score despite starting several drives in Hough territory.

The Wildcats repeatedly threw at Hough senior cornerback Samari Matthews, hours after he was named North Carolina’s top high school football player, to no avail.

Fittingly, senior defensive back Jason Wilkerson’s interception with less than seven minutes remaining sealed the victory. It was Hough’s sixth defensive shutout of the season.

Royal, who had a breakout year and perhaps hinted at what’s to come next fall, closed the scoring with a 74-yard rushing touchdown in the final moments.