They had the football for 12 minutes. Here’s how they won a state championship anyway.

Bell County burned through the entire first quarter of Saturday’s KHSAA UK HealthCare Sports Medicine Class 3A football state championship game on its first possession. The Bobcats used their bruising, methodical run game to move down the field bit by bit before capping the 75-yard drive with a 1-yard rushing touchdown and successful two-point conversion, both by junior Blake Evans, at the 11:14 mark of the second quarter.

Christian Academy of Louisville, in its quest to become the first CAL football roster to hoist back-to-back state championship trophies, had to respond. And there was no better choice to lead the charge than senior quarterback and East Carolina commit Cole Hodge, who entered the title game a legitimate Mr. Football contender with career stats of 8,952 yards and 133 TDs passing, as well as 1,904 yards and 24 TDs rushing.

What was Hodge’s and his offense’s attitude as they took to Kroger Field in Lexington for the first time all game?

“Just keep going,” Hodge said.

And go, they most certainly did. The time of possession comparison in the game was staggering, as Bell County ate up more than 35 of the game’s 48 minutes. The reason for that was simple — CAL head coach Hunter Cantwell and the Centurions dialed their game plan perfectly, and it never took long for them to find the end zone in what became a 41-16 victory.

It took only two minutes and three seconds after Bell County’s eight-point drive for Hodge to move the Centurions 59 yards in four plays and bring CAL its first touchdown of the day, a 1-yard QB keeper to cut Bell County’s lead to 8-7.

The CAL defense picked up right where its offense left off, forcing a Bell County turnover on downs to give the Centurions (14-1) an opportunity to take the lead before halftime. Again, it was Hodge who reached the end zone. This time on a 7-yard keeper to push his team in front 14-8.

The Centurions received the ball to open the second half, and Hodge threw for his first score of the game to close out a six-play, 57-yard drive in less than three minutes. He connected with Army commit Justin Ruffin Jr. on a 31-yard touchdown pass.

“You saw a lot of good football players out there today,” Cantwell said. “You know, I’m partial, but I think Mr. Football today was wearing red.”

Bell County (13-2) had an answer for the Centurions’ score, and burned five minutes and 46 seconds off the clock on a 75-yard drive capped by a 36-yard touchdown run by state-leading rusher Daniel Thomas. Longtime head coach Dudley Hilton again made the call for a two-point conversion attempt, which was successful after another Evans rush to cut CAL’s lead to 21-16.

“I thought they had a phenomenal game plan coming in,” Cantwell said. “Very tough football team that executed at a high level. Gave us everything we wanted and more. I think it was a lot better game than people thought it was gonna be.”

Thomas, the Bobcats’ lone senior and a Mr. Football candidate in his own right, broke the KHSAA record for rushing touchdowns in a single season in Bell County’s semifinal victory over Hart County. Thomas also holds Kentucky’s single-season records for rushing yards, points and rushing touchdowns. After CAL’s semifinal win over Lexington Catholic, Cantwell called Thomas the state’s best running back. Following the state championship loss, Hilton said Thomas “speaks with his shoulder pads.”

“He’s a great athlete, great young man, he’ll make it in the world,” Hilton said. “But he carried this team on his shoulders a lot this year. And, you know, we’re just very proud of what he did.”

Thomas finished the game with 133 yards and one touchdown, plus five tackles.

CAL responded to Bell County’s third quarter score with another Hodge keeper. Following an impressive 21-yard reception by Ruffin Jr., Hodge rushed for a 5-yard touchdown.

Hodge, who was named the game MVP, had a direct hand in five of the six CAL touchdowns. He finished with 225 yards and two passing touchdowns plus 37 yards and three rushing scores. The only one he wasn’t partially responsible for arrived early in the fourth quarter when senior defensive end and tight end John Cobaugh took a Bell County fumble recovery 77 yards for a score. Cantwell called Cobaugh’s moment “huge.”

“That was a big momentum swing,” Cantwell said. “In my mind that kind of put the game away for us.”

Bell County sophomore quarterback and defensive back Blake Burnett attempted to halt that momentum with a fumble recovery of his own with nearly eight minutes to play in the fourth quarter, but a turnover on downs set CAL up for its fifth and final touchdown of the game.

Hodge connected with his younger brother and fellow ECU commit, junior Connor Hodge, on a 5-yard touchdown pass to ice the victory and secure the Centurions’ fourth state title.

“I’m just thankful for my guys around me,” Cole Hodge said. “And everyone around me has done their job and I’m just so thankful to be a part of this program. I’m so glad I came to this school.”

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