Huntingdon Defeats Marion County for School’s Second State Title

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Chattanooga, Tenn. – </strong>Marion County and Huntingdon met on Saturday afternoon for the 2A State Championship, with both teams being 13-1. It was a ground-and-pound game with the two combining for 80 rushing attempts.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The matchup was competitive, but Huntingdon made a few more plays in the end, securing a 20-7 victory for the school's second state title.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/connersmith04/status/1997432464734622120?s=20","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/connersmith04/status/1997432464734622120?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Huntingdon drew first blood halfway through the first quarter when a long, methodical drive put them inside the Marion County 10-yard line.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2058611' first='Braylin' last='Dearmon'] finished off the drive with a rushing touchdown to go up 6-0 after the PAT was no good.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Both sides traded punts for a while, but that's when the Mustangs finally got something going. While it was a run-heavy game, the forward pass was what gave them their second score of the game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='932932' first='Kenton' last='Smith'] fired a beautiful go ball down the sideline, and Zayden Connelly caught it in stride to go up 13-0 right before halftime.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Huntingdon got the ball first out of halftime and went on an impressive drive to all but seal their state championship hopes.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It was an 11-play, 71-yard drive that ended in Smith taking a designed run around the edge and into paydirt to blow things open.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Marion County eventually got on the board late in the game when [player_tooltip player_id='1282609' first='Mason' last='Mays'] caught a pass on a wheel route and scampered into the end zone untouched. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The two sides ran the clock out the rest of the way, as the Huntingdon Mustangs won 20-7, capturing their second championship ever and the first since 2003.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["932932"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6934bbba5c9bc"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Smith was the do-it-all player for Huntingdon in their state championship victory. He completed a 41-yard pass for a touchdown, then ran for 111 yards and a score.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">The junior was the MVP for a reason and put his team in a great spot to win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2028 MLB [player_tooltip player_id='1589948' first='Hayes' last='Eubanks'] – Huntingdon</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1589948' first='Hayes' last='Eubanks'] was an animal all game for the Mustang defense. He led the team in tackles with nine, while recording two sacks and a quarterback hit.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>He was the best player on that defense and showed out in the biggest moment.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2026 ATH [player_tooltip player_id='2058611' first='Braylin' last='Dearmon'] – Huntingdon</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dearmon had an underrated game but looked very good. He ran for 76 yards and the touchdown that put the game out of reach, while complementing Smith well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>He averaged 4.8 YPC and made some clutch runs to move the chains.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2026 ATH [player_tooltip player_id='1282609' first='Mason' last='Mays'] – Marion County</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mays was on the losing side of things, but had a solid game for Marion County. The senior accounted for 74 all-purpose yards and a touchdown while being effective on defense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>He led the team in tackles with 11 and recorded two TFLs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2026 OLB Ashton Martin – Marion County</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ashton Martin had a solid game as well, running for 41 yards on eight carries and being a productive player defensively.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The senior outside linebacker had nine tackles and a sack.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->