The game had a sort of poetic feel. It was, for many, the final game of their careers. A chance to win a fourth straight state title. The opponent, Countryside Christian, had been the first team in the state to volunteer to play the Chargers. “No team wanted to play us because we were so good from past years,” said junior center and defensive tackle Garrison Davis. The Chargers had beaten them in the first week of the season 44-28, so Countryside entered the championship yearning for revenge.

     On November 14th at The Villages Charter School, the varsity football team came out on top, winning the SSAA 8-Man State Championship for the fourth year in a row. The team dominated Countryside for most of the game, forcing four turnovers and not allowing any points until the second half.

     During practice and preparation leading up to the game, the team focused on staying healthy and preparing for a team of a higher caliber than they are accustomed to playing. Before the game, senior running back and cornerback Ed Mitchem said, “We haven’t really been hitting to make sure everybody can heal properly and recover fast enough.” 

     Having played Countryside earlier in the season, the players knew what to expect from their opponent. The coaches stressed the importance of knowing in-game assignments and being ready to adapt to anything new from the other team.

     Despite these circumstances, the players focused on treating this like any other game, one that they had to fight to win. “Even though we have won four state championships in a row, we still act like we have a target on our backs and that we still have something to prove,” said senior wide receiver and cornerback Ahmad Crumity.

     For seniors like Crumity and many other key players on the team, this is their last year of high school football. Having won the state championship their first three years, the seniors were hungry for a perfect closure to their season and, in some cases, careers.

     When asked about winning the state championship every year of high school, Crumity said, “It feels really good. It just makes us feel like we’re unbeatable, and that if we just keep working, we can continue to be unbeatable.”

     The team stressed their defense before and during the game and limited Countryside’s abilities. “On defense, we got a lot of early stops and then a lot of big, explosive plays,” said sophomore wide receiver and cornerback Ryan Worman.

     Four takeaways stifled Countryside drives throughout the game: fumble recoveries by freshman Jackson Stier and senior Sasa Bilanovic, as well as interceptions by Mitchem and junior Damarion Feaster.

     A large part of the Chargers’ identity this season was big plays, and the state championship had no shortage of them. Mitchem had 250 yards and four touchdowns in the game, one of which was a hook-and-ladder trick play.

     On the first play of the second half, senior quarterback and cornerback Nick Bearden pitched it to senior tight end and defensive end Wes Ryan, who then pitched the ball to Mitchem, who ran it in for a touchdown. This play not only swung the momentum completely in the Chargers’ favor, but was also a play in the works for a long time.

     Worman said, “We’ve been running that play [in practice] for four years, and we finally just ran it in [a game].” Bearden added three rushing touchdowns of his own in his final game as a Charger.

     When the game ended with a final score of 47-12, the players and coaches rejoiced; all their hard work had paid off. The team, jumping in celebration, swarmed their head coach and Athletic Director, Anthony McCall, as Worman and Bearden poured a bucket of Gatorade on his head.

     The season, and a remarkable four years, had come to a picture-perfect ending. Crumity said, “No one can ever take that away from us that we [won] four years in a row.”