Arlington – TPW: Tough People Win.

It’s the motto that echoed on the helmets and on the field for the Gunter Tigers on Thursday at AT&T Stadium during the 3A Division II State Championship against Poth, and it's what propelled them to a physical first half and redemption after a disappointing 2021 state title loss to Franklin.

Gunter ran for 297 yards and amassed 460 total yards en route to a convincing 42-7 victory over the Pirates for its third state title and a perfect 16-0 record.

Perseverance was in the air early for Gunter as it was able to convert on a fourth down in the first quarter and capped it off with an Ashton Bennett touchdown.

Poth made Gunter earn every yard as Matthew Bunn finished his night with nine tackles; Rankin Ramzinski added a sack for the Pirates.

But Gunter’s pistol option offense would dominate as Bennett would tack on another touchdown with 87 yards on the night, finishing with the offensive MVP honors. A flurry of backs also chimed in with Ethan Sloan getting 63 yards and a touchdown and Hellman would get two long touchdowns and 58 yards as well as tacking on an interception to close out the game. The Tiger's offense would rumble to a total of 297 yards.

The Gunter Black Flag defense flew high as Brayden Hinton swashbuckling in for a sack while Colin Peacock secured the skies with an interception earning him defensive MVP. The Tigers only allowed 37 yards on the ground and 10 first downs from Poth.

In the final seconds of the game, Zane Raabe launched a 30-yard dart to Gabriel Silansky for a touchdown to make sure Poth wouldn’t walk away without any points.