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Stamford's 34-point second half to clinches 3rd straight state title, defeating Shiner

ARLINGTON — Stamford successfully defended its Class A Division I state championship Thursday, staging a wild fourth-quarter rally to complete a 41-28 comeback win over Shiner in the title game at AT&T Stadium.

Stamford (14-1) trailed, 28-7, midway through the third quarter but reeled off 34 unanswered points the rest of the way.

“We knew we had to get stops in the second half to get back in the game, and our guys did a good job of doing that,” Stamford coach Wayne Hutchinson said. “We’ve said all year that we may get behind, but these guys have so much heart, and they just weren’t going to lose.”

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Stamford relied on the big plays of quarterback Bo Wimberly and receiver James Washington to power the second-half rally.

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Wimberly had three touchdown runs in the second half, including a 53-yard run to cut the Stamford deficit to 28-21 with 10:39 left to play. He then found Washington on a 60-yard scoring strike to tie the score at 28-28 with 3:42 remaining.

Wimberly, who finished with 367 total yards and accounted for five touchdowns, played much of the contest with an injury to his non-throwing arm suffered in the second quarter.

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“It’s a physical sport, and you just have to battle through it,” said Wimberly, who was named offensive player of the game.

After the Stamford defense recovered a fumble on the ensuing Shiner possession, Wimberly put his team ahead to stay with a 12-yard scoring run with 1:55 left to play.

Washington then put the game away, this time on defense, as he snagged an interception at the Stamford 23 and weaved his way 77 yards to the end zone for the final score.

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Stamford also leveled the game’s first punches, stopping Shiner (11-4) on its opening drive while scoring on its first play from scrimmage on a 63-yard catch by Washington for a 7-0 lead.

Shiner, however, shrugged off the big plays and responded with three consecutive scoring drives to claim a 21-7 halftime lead.

Shiner’s Marcus Coleman (169 yards rushing) scored the tying touchdown for Shiner on a 53-yard run, and Shiner pulled ahead, 14-7, on a 9-yard scoring catch by Caleb Murrile midway through the second quarter.

Shiner quarterback Jacob Stafford (129 yards rushing) scored on a 1-yard plunge with 2:11 left in the half.

Shiner’s grinding ground attack powered the first-half surge, with the team rushing for 244 yards in the opening half while holding the ball for nearly 18 minutes.

The second half also belonged to Shiner early on. Shiner recovered a squib kick and scored on a 22-yard run by Dadrian Taylor to go up, 28-7.

“We had all the momentum coming into the second half, especially after coming off the squib kick,” Shiner coach Steven Cerny said. “But give Stamford credit for making plays and getting stops when they had to have them.”

This was Stamford’s third straight state title game at the Class A level. Shiner was playing in its first title game since winning the Class A title in 2004.