It was a great ride… it just fell one game short.

The undefeated Baker Gators defeated the Hawthorne Hornets 27-14 in the Class 1-A state championship game at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee.

The Hornets finish a storybook season with a 10-3 record.  

Hawthorne took the early lead when Chaz Mackey hit Terrell James on a 67-yard touchdown pass on its first drive. Dre Lawrence ran in a two-point conversion, and Hawthorne took an 8-0 lead in the first quarter. The Gators answered with a Joe Brunson 4-yard touchdown run and extra point to cut the lead to 8-7 by the end of the period.

In the second quarter, Baker took its first lead of the night when Brody Sharpe threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Ethan Edge with just 13 seconds left in the period. The extra point failed, but Gators led 13-8 heading into halftime.

Baker scored two more unanswered touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters, and never looked back. They finished the season with an unblemished 14-0 record.

Mackey threw another touchdown pass, this time to Camren Cohens from 12 yards out to cut the lead to 27-14, but the Hornets never got closer.

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