When Hamlin head coach Russell Lucas got his team onto the AT&T Stadium field two hours before the school’s first state championship game against legendary Mart, he knew exactly how to settle his team down.

“We came out this morning and kind of had our ‘Hoosiers’ moment,” Lucas said. “We measured the field. When we got out there [in the game], I thought they were looking straight ahead. If you don’t look up, it’s just like our field, except for the turf.”

Lucas could have been speaking for his colleagues at Pottsboro and Omaha Paul Pewitt, the other two underdogs in Thursday’s state championship games. Hamlin and Pottsboro made their first state championship game appearances Thursday, and Pewitt made its first trip since 2005. Their opponents, however, were veritable regulars at AT&T Stadium. Mart entered Thursday seeking a three-peat, Grandview was the defending champion, and Gunter was after its second title in four years.

That was the prevailing theme throughout Thursday’s slate of state championship games: newcomers (or relative newcomers) looking for titles against teams who have made AT&T Stadium a December home-away-from-home. And while all three newcomers fell short — and agonizingly short in some cases — the experience gained will come in handy as soon as next year.

“They are physical,” Mart coach Kevin Hoffman said after his Panthers held off Hamlin 25-20. “They are big. Strong. Shifty. Hard to tackle. Hamlin’s going to be back here. Soon. They’ve got a great group of kids and I can see them coming back here for years to come.”

Hamlin, Pottsboro and Pewitt all made the most of their day in their respective main events. None looked the part of a first-time performer on the state’s biggest stage.

“This was the experience of a lifetime for all of us,” Pottsboro coach Matt Poe said after his team came up just short against Grandview, falling 42-35. “We appreciate all the support we’ve gotten, and we appreciate that we’re here.”

Pewitt coach Triston Abron said his team overcame some early jitters and battled Gunter to a 22-22 halftime tie before the Tigers pulled away. Once the pain of the loss wears off, the experience gained will help his team down the road.

“First quarter, I think we were a little wide-eyed,” he said. “We brought the kids here last week and watched the game but when the whistle blows, it’s a little different. We’ve been here now. Gunter had been here before and I hope we get to see them again next year.”

Getting rid of the first-time jitters is one key to future success. A second key is learning from the experience. After winning his school’s eighth championship, Hoffman laid out his blueprint to annual success: play tough teams early to prepare for the postseason grind. It’s a lesson that served him well as Hamlin became the first 2A, Division 2 team to lose to Mart by less than 20 points.

“We know that we’re not going to beat every team [badly],” Hoffman said. “It goes back to our non-district schedule. We lost to Holland. We lost to Franklin. We lost to Refugio. They showed us our mistakes and the things we needed to work on.

“Today’s game was just like those games, but the difference is, now we’ve gone through those tough games early in the season, and in week 16 we’re prepared,” he continued. “When things get tough, you stay the course, you believe and you understand what you need to do.”

In Hamlin, they’re already understanding.

“I thought our kids handled it really well,” Lucas said. “If you’ve followed us, you’ve seen how mature our team has become and how confident we were.”

After Thursday’s experience, they’ll have every reason to take that confidence into next season.