Windthorst had to play its perfect game.

The Trojans (15-1) headed into the 2A DII state championship as unanimous underdogs against the three-time reigning state champion Mart Panthers (14-1), who were looking to become just the fifth program to four-peat.

Chris Tackett’s team had to play nearly flawless. They did. They had to force Mart into uncharacteristic mistakes. They did. And even then, they needed a little more heart. They had that too. Windthorst put it all together in a 22-21 thriller for the program’s first state title since 2003.

From the offset, Windthorst played with energy to match Mart’s experience.

After forcing a punt on the Panther’s opening possession, linebacker Tryston Harding recovered a botched punt inside the redzone leading to the Trojans’ first score on a Cy Belcher plunge from the 1-yard line.

But every time Mart seemed to be seizing control, particularly during the third quarter after taking its first lead, Windthorst had a counterpunch; whether it was weathering Mart’s long drives, or sustaining its own. Mart’s nearly seven-minute scoring drive to go up 21-14 to start the third quarter could’ve been the backbreaker, but it wasn’t.

“This group of seniors, I don’t think that’s in their DNA,” Windthorst head coach Chris Tackett said. “It’s the state championship game against the two best teams in our classification and you’re going to have drives like that, and you’ve got to rally back from them.”

With the state championship on the line, Tackett put the game in his seniors’ hands following Cy Belcher’s two-yard score with under 30 seconds remaining. After initially missing the PAT on what would’ve been the game-tying extra point, Tackett had a mulligan after Mart moved offsides before the miss. He lined up for two this time.

Senior Ethan Belcher lined up in the wildcat punched it outside untouched for the go-ahead score with 26 seconds left.

“We don’t have any quit in us,” Belcher said. “We’ve had a lot of games and, especially in the playoffs, where we’ve had to fight under pressure. The one thing we haven’t done all season is folded up.”

The drive leading up to the score, Windthorst leaned on its playmaking wideout Kyle Wolf who converted two fourth downs, including a fourth and 12 inside Mart territory. The senior saw mostly single coverage all game and finished with 133 all-purpose yards and was named the game’s Offensive MVP.

“I guess (Mart) stuck to what they’ve been doing all year, they didn’t want to change anything up,” Wolf said. “We found ways to overcome that and me and Cy (Belcher) have had a connection the last couple of years.”

Mart’s Roddrell Freeman finished his final high school game with 194 yards on the ground and all of Mart’s three touchdowns.

“(Freeman’s) been starting and playing in every game of his high school career,” Mart head coach Kevin Hoffman said. It didn’t end the way we wanted, him getting his fourth ring, but he’s been the catalyst of this team especially the last couple of years.”