ARLINGTON - The first full day of 11-man football at the UIL State Championships started out with more lopsided results, but ended with an absolute bang on Thursday night as the nightcap between Brock and Franklin in the 3A-Division I state title game lived up to the hype and then some.

In the opening game of the day, Hawley capped off an unbeaten 16-0 season with a dominant 54-28 win over Refugio to win their first state title in school history. When head coach Mitch Ables took over at Hawley in 2014, the program had one playoff win in school history and after taking the Bearcats to a title game last year, he got his team over the hump in emphatic fashion led by an offense that was simply unstoppable on Thursday night. Hawley’s win also cemented Big Country dominance in Class 2A as nearby Albany won the 2A-Division II state title on Wednesday night.

The middle game saw another lopsided outcome as Poth making their first appearance at a state title game since 1968 was no match for a talented and experienced Gunter squad playing in their fifth state title game since 2016. Poth’s defense held the Pirates in contention for much of the first half, but the dam finally broke late in the first half and Gunter cruised to a 42-7 win and their third state title.

The finale is when we finally got a great game after five straight blowouts as Franklin with a walk-off 20-yard field goal from quarterback/kicker Cort Lowry to beat Brock 17-14. Franklin, who now holds the state’s longest winning streak at 32-games, took home the 3A-Division II title last year and this year moved up to Division I. DB Fragiel Owens made the play off the night for the Lions with a strip fumble return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to give Franklin a 14-7 lead with 8:22 remaining in the game. Brock answered with a championship drive of their own as on 3rd and 12 QB Tyler Moody hooked up with RB Brett Tutter for a 34-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 14-14 with 5:59 remaining. Franklin, whose offense had been shut down all game went on a championship drive using all 5:59 of the clock and moving down to the three-yard line, setting up Lowry’s game winner field goal and sending Brock home as state runner-up for the second straight season.

The bigger schools get going on Friday at AT&T Stadium as we open the day with a battle of 15-0 teams as Carthage takes on Wimberley in the 4A-Division II state championship game.