Grace Griffins Pull Away from Stephenville Faith to capture first TAIAO State Title

On a crisp November afternoon at San Marcos Academy, the Grace Academy Griffins used a lethal combination of opportunistic defense, flawless special teams, and a perfectly balanced offense to turn a close first quarter into a 56-35 rout of the Faith Knights.

The scoreboard suggests a shootout, but the story of the game was written in red: four Faith interceptions (one returned for a touchdown) and one Grace turnover. Those extra possessions, combined with dominant field position from special teams, turned what could have been a track meet into a 21-point Griffins victory.

“It was only the second time all season we had all our players healthy going into a game,” head coach Brent Golemon said afterward. “We were extremely balanced with our passing and running and our defense made the plays when they needed to.”

The tone was set early. After Elijah Heilig’s 3-yard plunge and a two-point conversion staked Grace to an 8-0 lead, Faith answered immediately with a 2-yard score of their own to tie it. Heilig wasted no time responding, bursting 15 yards on the Griffins’ next possession to make it 16-8 after another successful two-point try.

The first quarter ended in a flurry of touchdowns, but Grace already held the momentum.The second quarter belonged entirely to the Griffins. Faith coughed up interceptions on back-to-back possessions, and Grace converted both into touchdowns – a 23-yard strike followed by Bridger Maxwell’s 7-yard dart to Benjamin Leeman. Heilig capped the quarter with a 9-yard scamper, sending Grace into the locker room up 32-14 after scoring on all four of their second-quarter drives.

The Knights showed life in the third, cutting the deficit to 40-27 on a 42-yard bomb and a short touchdown run, but the Griffins had an answer every time. Samuel Moore hauled in a 38-yard touchdown from Maxwell, and on Faith’s very next snap Cole Campbell stepped in front of a pass and raced 30 yards for a back-breaking pick-six that pushed the lead to 56-27 heading into the fourth.

From there Grace went into victory formation mode, content to hand the ball to Heilig (26 carries, 166 yards, 3 TD) and let the clock run while the defense added one final interception. Maxwell finished an efficient 8-of-11 for 155 yards and three touchdowns through the air while adding 22 yards on the ground.

The Griffins racked up 344 total yards – 189 rushing, 155 passing – on just 42 plays, averaging over 8 yards per snap. Moore (63 yards receiving, 1 TD), Campbell (19-yard TD catch plus the 30-yard pick-six), and Brandon Tomlin (4 catches, 66 yards) all made big plays in the passing game.

Defensively, Campbell led the way with 14 total tackles (11 solo), a tackle for loss, and the game-sealing interception return for touchdown. Moore added 12 tackles and a critical hurry that led to the last interception, while Nate Washington and Will Yassa each picked off passes.

“This team is very young,” Coach Golemon noted, “and all season they have won by limiting turnovers and executing on special teams.”

On Saturday those two phases proved decisive once again, turning a potential barn-burner into a comfortable Griffins victory and finihsing 9-3 on the season with their first state title.