BY NOLAN RUTH & BRIAN GOSSET
X – @RealNolanRuth & @Gosset41
ARLINGTON— The Ganado Indians (15-1) won the 2A Division I state championship early Thursday afternoon by defeating the Stamford Bulldogs in triple overtime 30-28. Logan Ullman made the winning interception on the two-point attempt from Stamford to seal the deal on the final play of the game.
Triple overtime tied the UIL Record for longest state championship game, with the first being the 2003 matchup between La Marque and Denton Ryan.
“I’m just so excited how the kids played and how they overcame adversity throughout the game,” head coach Josh Ervin said in the press conference. “There were ups and downs and they responded positively. What a great game to be a part of. It was just a special day.”
Ullman performed well on both sides of the ball, completing 13 of 22 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns and 48 yards on 10 carries and a score. Defensively he recorded eight tackles, two of them for a loss. He was named the Offensive MVP of the game.
Throughout the game, Ullman connected well with wide receiver Cain Hayden who also played both ways and earned the Defensive MVP. Hayden had two interceptions and five tackles on defense, while catching six passes for 102 yards and a pair of touchdowns on offense.
Hayden got the fireworks started early with his first interception on just the third play of the game that set up Ullman to score the first touchdown from six yards out.
Stamford (15-1) responded on the ensuing drive by going 70 yards in 12 plays before Christian Duran threw deep to Brayden Jimenez to tie the game.
Duran led the charge for the Bulldogs, completing 14 of 22 pass attempts for 152 yards and two touchdowns and added 54 yards on 14 carries.
The biggest key for Stamford throughout the game was converting on five of six fourth down conversions.
The Indians took the lead into halftime after Ullman and Hayden connected for the first time from 13 yards out to make it 14-7 at the break.
The Bulldogs got a big boost coming out of the locker room when C’nai Whitfield came up with a key interception that set up a one yard scoring run by Kaston Vega.
Ganado did not hesitate to go 95 yards on its next drive before Ullman and Hayden connected again for the touchdown.
“That drive was huge,” Ervin exclaimed. “Around what we do, we call it a game breaker any time we can drive the ball over 80 yards – it doesn’t happen a lot so we had an opportunity for a game breaker. They believed it and we found a way to drive down.”
Vega tied it up for Stamford midway through the fourth quarter with a five yard run that ultimately sent the game to overtime.
The Indians got the ball first and scored on a one-yard run by Logan Bures. The Ganado defense then forced the Bulldogs into another fourth down situation with the game on the line, but Duran was able to find Whitfield in the end zone to force a second overtime.
Once again, Stamford faced fourth down in the second overtime. Duran tried to pass again but it was intercepted by Luke Bures to give Ganado the ball. However, the Indians missed the would-be game-winning field goal to send it into a third overtime.
Ganado converted on their attempt with a pass to Austen Pena. Stamford tried a reverse pass to tie it again, but Ullman finished the game with an interception to secure the first ever state title for the Indians.
