Westminster Christian wrapped up the Class 4A, Region 8 title on Friday with just seconds to spare. Wildcats quarterback Brandon Musch scored from 7 yards out with 16 ticks left on the clock at Earl Van Dyke Stadium in Huntsville to give the home team a 36-29 win over Priceville.

The region championship is the third for Westminster and its first in 4A.

Priceville (4-5, 4-2) started the game by recovering an onsides kick and turned it into an 8-0 lead after Blitz Clemons scored on a 7-yard run and followed that with a 2-point conversion with 6:16 left in the first quarter.

Westminster (7-1, 6-0) answered after recovering another Priceville onsides kick, moving 35 yards in two plays. Musch scored on a 20-yard run, but a 2-point pass was incomplete.

Priceville pulled to a 15-6 lead with a 12-play, 59-yard scoring drive. Clemons scored with 8:26 left in the half on a 3-yard run.

The Wildcats got a 33-yard TD run from Henry Claunch with 4:12 remaining in the half. Priceville took a 15-14 lead into intermission after stopping Westminster just short of the goal line with 5 seconds remaining.

Priceville got two more Clemons TDs in the third period, one a 67-yard dash. The Bulldogs led 29-14 with 2:35 left in the quarter.

Musch connected with T.J. Carter on a 26-yard scoring pass and made it 29-22 with a 2-point throw from Musch to Kyle Everleth.

Westminster’s defense stopped the Bulldogs at its 20-yard line and knotted the game with a 12-play, 80-yard drive and another Musch TD with 7:19 left in the game.

The Wildcats knocked the ball out of Priceville QB Jake England’s hands and Cole Rossen recovered at the Westminster 34-yard-line. The home team went 66 yards for the game-winner.

Star of the game: Musch totaled 311 yards and scored four TDs for the winners.

Play of the game: With the game tied at 29-all with 3:58 left to play and Priceville at Westminster’s 32, Zeke Carwile dislodged the ball from the Bulldogs’ QB to give the Wildcats a shot at a game-winning drive.

Stat sheet: Westminster – The Wildcats totaled 419 yards, with Musch completing 10-of-12 passes for 95 yards passing and one touchdown. He ran for 216 yards and three touchdowns. Claunch gained 94 yards on 13 carries and one touchdown and caught 6 passes for 38 yards. TJ Carter had a TD catch. Priceville – The Bulldogs had 289 yards – all coming on the ground. Clemons ran for 174 yards on 34 carries and scored four times. England rushed for 107 yards on 18 carries.

By the numbers: 6 – Priceville converted 6-of-7 fourth-down conversions. … 22 – Westminster outscored Priceville 22-0 in the final 18 minutes. … 12,658 –Musch moved into third place in all-purpose yards, passing Bo Nix. His four touchdowns put him at 171 for his career, four short of No. 2 all-time (behind Kristian Storey).

Coachspeak: “You don’t ask for games like this as you’d rather dominate from start to finish, but you are so thankful for these kind of games that propel us into the playoffs and show these guys what they are made of. I just told them at halftime that this is what we work for and why we practice so hard for these moments when you get down two scores and you can come back and win.” – Westminster head coach Louis LeBlanc

They said it: “What a fun game this was! It definitely was not our most complete game on both sides of the football, but I’m just so proud of how our guys handled adversity in that third quarter when all the momentum had shifted to them. We didn’t let the moment get too big for us. I’m just so proud of our guys and I’m just so happy to be region champs.” – Musch

“You know that was a big turnover for us on defense that changed the game. I mean, the ball got hit out and I just saw the ball and got on it. You know our defense really stepped up in the second half and that was just a great game. I’m so happy to be region champs.” – Cole Rossen

What’s next: Westminster will travel to New Hope and Priceville will host Randolph.