Mobile Christian junior Damien Gatson is committed to play baseball at South Alabama.

After Thursday’s Class 3A state championship, Jaguars’ football coach Kane Wommack might want to take a close look at him as well.

Gatson threw five touchdown passes as top-ranked Mobile Christian pulled away from No. 2 Madison Academy in the fourth quarter for a 55-28 victory at Tuscaloosa’s Bryant-Denny Stadium.

The win gave the 15-0 Leopards their first AHSAA state football title.

“Our goal this year was to play 15 games,” Mobile Christian coach Ronnie Cottrell said. “I can’t say enough about our players. We had a great senior group. Last week, after we beat St. James and the way our guys kept their poise, I felt like we were going to win it. I didn’t know it would be this convincing.

“This is definitely one of the biggest wins of my career. It’s an honor to be a Leopard.”

It didn’t look like it would finish as a four-touchdown win early in the fourth quarter. After trailing 35-14 in the third, Madison Academy got an 18-yard TD pass from Jake Poldiak to Jackson Reece and a 14-yard TD run from Ken Cherry to cut the lead to seven points with 10:40 still left in the game.

“This is a great offensive team,” Cottrell said of Madison Academy. “No. 5 (Cherry) is one of the finest athletes in the state. We knew we would have to score. Their team never quit. Fortunately, neither did we.”

With the Mobile Christian lead down to 35-28, Michael Moore returned the ensuing kickoff to the Leopard 36. Gatson hit Moore for a gain of nine yards on first down and then fired a strike across the middle to Kentonio Kelly, who raced 55 yards for the touchdown.

Just thirty seconds after the game seemed like it would go to the final seconds, the Leopards had stolen the momentum again. This time for good.

“We had been in that type of situation before,” Gatson said. “I told them before we ran the play that it was going to be open. I hit him in the hands, and he was gone.”

Gatson, the games’ MVP, finished 15-of-20 overall for 298 yards. The TD was Kelly’s only reception of the game. However, the star linebacker made 14 tackles to anchor the defense.

“We knew when they scored, we had to keep our cool,” Kelly said. “When I caught the ball, I just used my vision. I had to get in the end zone for my teammates.”

Mobile Christian added fourth-quarter touchdown runs of 63 yards by PJ Brown and 36 yards by Jason Todd to cap the scoring.

“We climbed back in it twice and just couldn’t get over the hump,” Madison Academy coach Bob Godsey said. “It hurts right now but when we have a chance to look back over what we accomplished, there will be a lot of good feelings.”

Mobile Christian took a quick 14-0 lead in the first quarter, capitalizing on a pair of Poldiak interceptions. Gatson hit Aaron Rogers with a 38-yard TD pass and Brown with on a 33-yard score.

Madison Academy answered with Cherry’s 19-yard run and 75-yard reception from Poldiak to tie the game at 14-14. Cherry finished with 128 yards and 2 TDs rushing on 24 carries and caught five passes for 122 yards and a score.

“Our guys had plenty of chances to cash it in and move on, but they wouldn’t do it,” Godsey said.

The Leopards scored the next three touchdowns to seemingly take control. Jordan Woullard scored on a 2-yard run with 1:04 left in the half and Gatson threw TD passes of 52 yards (to Rogers) and 24 (to Woullard) for a 35-14 lead before Madison Academy rallied again.

Star of the Game: Gatson was never fazed in the pocket and kept making plays until the game was out of reach.

Key sequence: After Madison Academy rallied to tie the game at 14-14 with 2:21 left in the first half, Mobile Christian responded quickly. Moore returned the ensuing kickoff 65 yards to the Mustang 8. Two plays later, Woullard scored using a “tush push.” Mobile Christian led 21-14 at the break.

Stat sheet: Mobile Christian – Brown finished with 114 yards on 17 carries. Rogers caught five passes for 124 yards and a pair of scores. Michael Moore had five receptions for 39 yards. Moore also returned two kicks for a total of 80 yards. Carter Lewis averaged 44 yards on four punts with a long of 52. Madison Academy – Poldiak completed 20-of-39 passes for 342 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He was sacked twice and intercepted three times. Reece caught six passes for 69 yards and a TD.

By the numbers: 982 – combined yards for both teams (Madison Academy gained 514 yards on 80 plays, Mobile Christian 468 on 48). … 3 – Interceptions by Mobile Christian from Kelly, Jason Todd and Sema’j Law. The Leopards didn’t have a turnover. … 29:36 – Time of possession for Madison Academy. Mobile Christian had it for just 18:21. … 25 – first downs for Madison Academy compared to 16 for Mobile Christian.

Did you know? Mobile Christian won its first AHSAA state title in its third trip to the finals under Cottrell. The Leopards lost to Piedmont in both 2016 and 2019. They won an AISA state title in 1995 under Glenn Vickery.

This post will be updated