On Thursday night on Ken Riley Field at Bragg Memorial Stadium on the campus of Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, mistakes were costly for the Hawthorne football team.

However, the defending FHSAA Class 1R state champions overcame three interceptions and a blocked punt in the first half to defeat 2021 state champion Madison County, 22-13, to win their second straight state title.

A bad snap over the head of Madison County punter Keoni Nelson gave the Hornets the lead for good, 15-13, with 9:30 to play. A late defensive touchdown sealed the game.

“It’s a great team win,” said Hawthorne football coach Cornelius Ingram. “This is what the small-town communities are all about. I’m happy we were able to get the win against a great Madison program, but it was definitely extremely hard.”

Last week in the state semifinals junior quarterback C.J. Ingram, who was 24-0 as a starter heading into last night’s game, threw four TD passes, but in the first half against the Cowboys he threw three interceptions.

Despite having a punt blocked, which also led to a Madison County score, the Hornets and Cowboys were tied 13-13 at the half.

“When we went in at halftime we were upbeat, all of my guys were confident, and we felt like it was a bad half of football,” Ingram said. “I knew that was probably one of the worst halves of football I was a part of in my nine years of coaching, and we were still in the game. I knew it was almost impossible for us to play that bad in the second half.”

Neither team scored in the third quarter, but both teams had a touchdown called back because of a holding penalty.

On their first drive of the second half, Madison County’s Sean Williams had a 56-yard scoring run on the Cowboys’ first drive of the quarter.

After the penalty brought the ball back, Hawthorne freshman Nathan Jennings ended the drive with an interception at the 30-yard line.

The Hornets (13-0) moved into Madison County territory on a 24-yard run by junior running back Keenon Johnson (21 carries, 110 yards). A few plays later Ingram scored on a 20-yard run around left end but his touchdown was also called back due to penalty.

Hawthorne had to settle for a field goal attempt but a bobbled snap led to a missed 26-yard field goal by Sam Carroll with 2:47 to play in the quarter, leaving both teams without a score heading into the final 12 minutes of play.

Late in the quarter, USF commit Alvon Issac returned a punt 32 yards, giving the Hornets the ball at the Madison County 39-yard line with 27 seconds to play in the quarter.

The drive stalled, but sophomore punter Josues Knapp pinned the Cowboys inside their own 10-yard line.

Hawthorne’s defense held, and with Nelson punting from the end zone, the ball went over his head to give the Hornets their first lead of the game.

Following the safety, and the Madison County punt, the Hornets went on a time-consuming drive that ate up almost six minutes off the clock.

Johnson carried the ball eight times on the drive, which began at the Cowboys’ 45-yard line after a 14-yard punt return by Matthew McKinley-Daniels.

“It was a point of emphasis to pound the ball in the second half and we just lined up and run it right at them,” said Ingram’s brother, offensive coordinator Greg Bowie. “We told our O-line, and we told Keenon, ‘we’re going to lean on you,’ and all playoff long he’s had like 20 carries a game in the playoffs and tonight was no different.”

But on 4^th-and-goal at the 1-yard line, a bad snap to Ingram led to a 5-yard loss and Madison County (10-2) still had life, trailing 15-13 with 3:29 to play.

However, the Hawthorne defense forced a turnover on a reverse as the ball was fumbled into the end zone and recovered by junior Naziy Gent for a touchdown and a 22-13 lead, following Carroll’s extra point, with 2:09 remaining.

“He deserves it because when I tell you he’s probably one of the most coachable kids we have, and I give it to him hard, I know I’m hard coach, not only me but the whole coaching staff, I know we’re very demanding,” said Hawthorne defensive coordinator Dustin Adkins. “When he makes one mistake he definitely hears about it. That’s a first-year starter, he’s been thrust in the position, but he never quits. He’s a ball player. He makes plays and trusts the coaching. It couldn’t happen to a better person.”

Madison County took advantage of a short field with a blocked punt by Sean Williams late in the first quarter and drove 17 yards for the first score of the game on a 5-yard run by Varian Terry.

Terry, who had a 99-yard scoring run in the second quarter, led the Cowboys with 117 yards.

Following Terry’s first score, Hawthorne answered with an 8-yard run by Issac but the extra point hit the left upright and the score was tied 6-6 with 7:19 to play in the half.

The long run by Terry was the first play after Ingram threw his second pick.

However, Hawthorne answered on a 24-yard scoring pass from Ingram to McKinley-Daniels with 51 seconds to play in the half.

The win by the Hornets avenged a 13-12 loss to the Cowboys in the 2021 state championship game and extended Hawthorne’s winning streak to 25 games.

Editor’s note: This story was updated.